Something New
by ToTrulyBe
Summary: Albus just stared at her. How had he never seen her before? How could he not recognize her? Al would have remembered her- she was very pretty. "I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?" Al asked. "I didn't," the girl laughed, "But it's Kaori Belinda Travers." Full Summary Inside.
1. Seeing and Staying

Thank you for reading! Full Summary:

**As Albus and Kaori enter their sixth year, they can't help but become close friends. But how have they never met before? As more and more of their life is shared, how can they support each other before both of them fall apart?**

* * *

Albus Severus Potter, sixth year at Hogwarts, meandered down the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, looking for any empty compartments. He usually sat with his cousins, but he had been feeling a headache coming on for a while and honestly couldn't deal with his cousins' noise and banter.

Finally reaching the end of the row, he reached the last compartment, which people rarely sat in because the door was a bit creaky and there was a crack on the window. Not that it mattered to him- it honestly wasn't that noticeable. Albus pulled open the door and sat down on one of the seats, taking the liberty to lay out across it, seeing as how he was alone.

He heard the creak of the door sliding open and looked up to see a girl standing in the threshold, a cat's basket in one hand and an owl's cage in the other.

"Do you mind if I join you? I was running late and everywhere else is full," she asked quietly, her blue eyes hopeful.

"No problem." Al gestured to the opposite seat and leaned his head back against the side of the compartment.

"Thank you so much!" She stepped in, placed her cage and basket on the ground and stretched out in a similar way to Albus, only facing opposite the door so they could hold better conversation.

They sat in silence for a moment, but neither of them seemed uncomfortable with that. Maybe a few minutes passed before the girl looked over at Albus and asked,

"What's your name?"

He was a bit taken aback by the question. Nearly everybody at Hogwarts knew who he was- son of the chosen one, Harry Potter. And they were already in their later years- surely anybody who followed quidditch at school would at least recognize him.

"Albus Severus Potter." He told her. "Gryffindor."

"Oh! I thought I recognized you from somewhere. I always hear your name, and I sort of remember you from the sorting- I'm a muggleborn, so I was a bit disheveled then... I thought you wore glasses?"

Al blinked his green eyes and shrugged. "Contacts."

"Ah. So, you're our house seeker. Sounds like hard work, " she continued.

"Well, you know how that goes."

"Our keeper graduated last year, right? I'm thinking about trying out for his position."

Albus just stared at her. How had he never seen her before? How could he not recognize her? She was obviously in his house. Al would have remembered her- she was very pretty.

"I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?" Had she even told him her name?

"I didn't," the girl laughed, "But it's Kaori Belinda Travers. My mum's Japanese, and my dad's English, so I have a Japanese first name, and an English middle and last name." **(A/N- If you don't know how to pronounce her name, it's pronounced like Ky-oree. It's spelled like Kay-oree, but I like the way that Ky-oree sounds.)**

Al continued staring. Although she was sitting, he could tell that she was only a bit shorter than himself. Her black hair came halfway down her back, and even though it was shiny, it was tangled and a bit unruly. Her skin was light, but not pale. Her blue eyes must have been her father's, but he could see that they were a more Asian shape.

"Speak any Japanese?"

_"Anata wa nani o kikitai ka?"_

"Sorry?"

"What would you like to hear?" she translated.

Al blushed a bit. "Oh. Errm... I'm not exactly sure."

"_Watashi wa seikaku ni wakaranai._I'm not exactly sure. " Kaori joked, smiling before turning her head to the animals on the ground. "That's Jirou," She told him, indicating the black cat. "It means second son, because I got him after Jameson," Kaori indicated the owl. "My dad named him, but I mostly call him James."

"My older brother is named James," Al stated.

"Maybe they'll get on well, then."

Al laughed out loud. "Yeah, maybe. Though it seems like most owls have it out for him. That's why he's always making me send letters for him."

"Has he tried cats?" Kaori inquired, perking up. "My dad is a muggle veterinarian. He's always having to take animals to the shelter after he fixes them up and people decided they don't want them anymore."

"No, I don't think he has. Maybe you could set him up with something."

Kaori grinned back. "Maybe." She glanced out the window and recognized the scenery. "We're getting close. We should put our robes on."

"Yeah..." Al trailed off.

"Is there something on my face or something?" Kaori asked, pulling her robe over her clothes.

"What?"

"Well, I mean, you're kind of staring and I was wondering if there was maybe something on my face..."

Al's face went bright red. "O-oh... yeah, uh, there's a bit of dirt right around here," he stammered, pointing to his own jaw.

Kaori used her robe sleeve, which was too long for her, and wiped away said 'dirt.' "Got it?"

"Yeah, perfect."

* * *

After disembarking the train at the Hogsmeade station, Kaori went off to find a carriage. Al grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back towards him.

"Hey, why don't you ride up with me and my cousins?"

Kaori just looked back at him curiously, before nodding slowly. He smiled down at her and took Jirou's basket from her, giving her a free hand.

"Oh... thanks?" She said it was though it were a question. Kaori heard whispers from behind her, and turned to see several girls looking her direction and talking in hushed tones. She shot them a glare, and they immediately turned the other direction.

"Just ignore them," Al insisted. "Some of the girls are a bit... obsessive to say the least."

"It's alright, Albus. I'm good at ignoring what people say."

"Al." He said suddenly, as they neared the carriages.

"Pardon?"

"Call me Al. Everybody else does- Albus is a bit of a mouthful," Al said sheepishly, running the hand that was holding Jirou through his hair.

"Oh. Sure, of course!"

Al smiled at her. She seemed genuinely kind and sweet. He wondered if maybe they could be friends...

"Hey, Al! Where were you on the train?" A similar-looking boy called to him from a carriage, sitting next to a red-haired boy and across from a red-haired girl.

"Couldn't stand to listen to you guys- went and sat in the back."

James noticed the basket that his brother was carrying, then the girl standing behind him. "And who is this?"

Al and Kaori climbed into the carriage, next to the girl with red hair.

"This is Kaori- she's in my year. Kaori, that's Rose, my cousin, she's in our year. And then he," Al pointed at the boy with red hair, "is Fred Weasley II, another cousin, seventh year. Then there's James, my brother, seventh year also."

Kaori blushed and let her hair fall in her face as she offered a shy hello to the group.

"No need to be shy," James assured her, smirking and leaning back into the carriage seat. "We don't bite."

Rose peered over Albus and at the girl sitting at the opposite side of the carriage, but didn't say anything. Fred gave Al a seemingly knowing look, raising an eyebrow and grinning. This made Kaori even more nervous- she felt like she was on display.

Al was a bit worried. _'She seemed much more confident on the train, when it was just the two of us...'_

"Your hair matches," James interjected suddenly.

Kaori snapped her head up. "Sorry, what?"

"You and Al. You both have messy black hair. Only difference is, it works on you," James laughed. Al crossed his arms and self-consciously brought a hand to his disheveled hair.

"Shut up, James."

The carriage arrived by the gates of the castle, and they all stepped off, though James now had Jirou's cage, while Al insisted on carrying James (the owl, that is). Kaori felt a bit guilty, but Rose assured her that that was just their nature.

Jirou had taken a liking to James, gently stretching his paw out of the basket in an attempt to play with him. Jameson, however, had practically broken out of his cage trying to get a swipe at him.

"I never thought I would like cats... most animals hate me..." James muttered, rubbing Jirou under the ears, making him purr.

"I can set you up with one," Kaori exclaimed, smiling. "My dad would be happy to help."

"Really?" James looked hopeful as Kaori nodded. He threw an arm over her shoulder. "I like you, Kaori. You can stick around."

"Glad to hear it," the girl laughed, loosening up. Albus smiled at her- he really hoped she would stick around...

* * *

After the feast, back in the common room, Rose asked Kaori if she had a roommate for the year, and Kaori responded with a no. And that settled it- they would be rooming together.

"Don't you have anybody else you'd rather share your dorm with?" Kaori asked, nervously. "I wouldn't want you to put anybody off..."

Rose shrugged. "I don't really have that many close friends. I know people, sure, but I don't really talk to them. I feel like I could get used to you."

Kaori blinked her blue eyes at her, then smiled a bit. "Let's go, then."

* * *

Back in the boys' dorms, Al sat in the dorm which he shared with both James and Fred. There were some three-bed rooms.

"So, Al, you and Kaori?" James pressed, lying on his stomach on his red comforter.

Al blushed. "Shove off, James. We only just met."

"Still, mate, you can't ignore the fact that she's gorgeous. She's your type, too."

"I don't have a type..." the black-haired boy muttered, crossing his arms. He had never been in a relationship before, so how would they know?

"I see you two together by the Winter Ball," Fred hedged, placing a few things from his trunk into the wooden dresser beside his four-poster.

"Wait just a-"

James interrupted with his own prediction. "No, I see them going together as friends. I put them as a couple... after the spring holidays."

"We're just friends!" Al cried. "We hardly even know each other."

"That can change..."

* * *

The next day for breakfast, Rose and Kaori were down in the great hall before the boys. They had already finished eating when the three of them wandered in.

"How can you stand being up so early on the first day?" James asked, all but throwing himself down on the bench across from them. "Barking mad..." he muttered, not thinking they would hear them.

Rose grabbed one of her textbooks and brought it down on James's arm, making him wince. Al was quietly chewing on a croissant, Fred was smearing jam onto a piece of toast, and Kaori was gazing off into space.

"Oi, Kaori! Kai!" The black haired girl jumped in surprise.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"I said we're going to be late for divination. Come on," Al said, standing from the opposite side. "You too, Rose."

"Did you call me Kai?" Kaori asked as they made their way up the stairs that would take them to the divination classroom.

Al looked down at his shoes. "Yeah. I just figured you wouldn't really mind... I won't call you that again if it bothers you."

"I don't mind."

They heard Rose snicker beside them, and they both shot her a glare as they got to the classroom. The three of them sat at one of the round tables together, preparing themselves for, arguably, the most useless class at Hogwarts.

An aged and graying Trelawny slowly made her way to the front of the classroom, though it looked as though she might topple over at any second.

"How have you been in our classes all these years and we haven't seen you?" Rose asked. Kaori stared down at her hands, her mouth opening and closing as though she couldn't figure out exactly what to say, but she didn't have to respond just yet because Trelawny began to speak.

She went on for the entire time about seeing into the beyond and what they would be doing that year, and how sixth year curriculum was entirely partner based. Trelawny then split the class into partners: Kaori and Al were together, and Rose ended up with Scorpius, who, despite what most people think, was in Gryffindor.

When Rose received this news, she dropped her head onto the table, and Kaori looked to Al for background.

"They 'hate' each other," Al explained, using air quotes around the word 'hate.' "But we all know that they're going to end up getting married one day and-"

"Shove a sock in it, Albus Severus!" Rose yelled at him, jerking her head up.

"Calm down, Rosie," Al teased, ruffling Rose's hair.

"I hate it. _When. You. Call. Me. Rosie_."

"I know, _Rosie,_" he said deliberately.

Papers were levitated onto their desks, containing a list of necessary materials and an outline of the curriculum. Al and Rose began reading theirs, while Kaori glanced at it for only a second before reaching into her bag and pulling out a glasses case, putting them on, and resuming reading.

Rose piped up, "You wear glasses?"

Kaori pursed her lips. "Only for reading. And I don't really like them." The lenses were very large, the rims thick. It was what many muggles might call 'hipster glasses.'

"They make you look... different..." Rose decided.

"I think they look cute." He noticed Kaori blush deep red, as well as Rose's questioning stare. "What are you looking at me like that for?"**  
**

**So how's that for a start? It'll get better, I promise, once they know each other a bit more.  
From here on, the story will likely be told from Kaori's point of view, occasionally Albus's. The next chapter gets a bit more revealing, so you better review if you want it ;) At least five would be lovely...**

**Truly** **yours,**  
~_ToTrulyBe_


	2. Tryouts and Tumbles

_**Kaori's POV**_

A month had passed since that fateful day on the Hogwarts Express, and Rose, Al, and I were already close enough to have been thought friends for years. It wasn't a shock with Rose, seeing as how we lived together. Al and I hung out in the common room a lot.

I had gotten used to hearing people whisper behind my back- I hardly noticed anymore. They were mostly girls who had it out for me for being friends with Albus so easily. I guess I was some sort of threat to their non-existent relationship with him.

Since that day in Divination, neither Rose nor Al had brought up why they hadn't seen me in any of their classes even though we were in the same year and house, which was good. I wasn't exactly sure I was ready to tell that story just yet.

In a week were quidditch tryouts, so I was spending all of my free time on the pitch. Which wasn't much, because I was one of the top in my class, so balancing homework and practicing for the keeper position wasn't exactly the easiest thing to do.

Currently, I was sitting on my broom above the pitch, idly flying in circles. I was done practicing, but still enjoyed flying just to clear my head. It was very cold out, one of those rare October storms was coming on, but I was too relaxed to really notice that I had no jacket on.

"Do you realize that it's near-freezing out here and you don't even have a coat?"

Al's voice penetrated my thoughts. I looked back into his green eyes, swimming with so much concern. It was nice to have people who really cared for me- not that my parents didn't, but it was difficult, what with them being muggles and all. They didn't really understand me fully, not without having experienced magic.

"Yeah, I was about to come down-" I tried.

"Don't make excuses." Al tossed me a coat- one of his own. I knew he had to have seen me from the tower and come to get me. Did I ever mention that Al was extremely protective of me? Worse than he was with Rose or Lily, and that was saying something.

My hair whipped around my face, even though I had tied it up. I slipped the pull-over jacket on, even though it was too big for me. It made me feel warm, and I really liked the smell... like Al.

Stop it, Kaori.

Alright, I admit that I might have a bit of a crush on Al. Who wouldn't? He was physically attractive, as well as sweet but serious at the same time. But he clearly didn't view me as anything more than a sister, but I was okay with that for now. After all, it was just an itty-bitty crush. It would go with time.

Right?

I had also come out of my shell quite a bit since meeting the Potters and Weasleys. I felt comfortable saying what I was feeling.

So this was what it was like to have friends.

"Come on. I know you'll make the team, so you may as well come back in now."

"I guess..."

* * *

Back in the dormitory, I didn't know what to do with myself. I had all of my homework done for the next week, but I wasn't particularly in the mood to socialize in the common room.

James's birthday was coming up. I had a present in mind for him. I settled on thinking about that. I had written a letter to my father about it, so it was just a matter of time before I heard back...

Jirou padded over and sat down on my stomach, for I was lying on my back.

"Hey there, cat," I said to him. _"Watashi wa anata o nogashita._" I told him I missed him. I often talked to Jirou in Japanese. He represented my Japanese half, while Jameson represented my English half. And I hadn't had much time to spend with either of them since I had begun training for quidditch.

"Have I ever told you that you sound really awesome when you speak Japanese?"

I looked up to see Rose coming into our shared bedroom, kicking off her shoes and throwing herself onto her bed.

"Al seemed upset tonight. What's up?" she asked, before noticing that I was wearing his jacket. "Where did you get that?"

"I was out practicing so I can make the house team, but the temperature dropped and I had no jacket, so..." I trailed off, stroking Jirou as he got up to go back to his basket.

Rose smiled and shook her head. "James is going to owe Fred and me quite a bit of money..."

"What?"

"Nothing," she hurriedly said, casually getting up and getting her sleepwear out of her trunk. Rose began to change- we didn't have problems changing in front of one another, of course. Well, at least she didn't. Not that I was nervous around her, but I just wasn't very comfortable with some of my features...

What I really hoped she wouldn't notice is that I had already changed out of the clothes I had been practicing in, but had kept Al's jacket on anyways.

I drifted off to sleep, his scent lulling me into dream land.

* * *

The next Saturday wasn't a Hogsmeade weekend- no, it was _far_more important. It was Gryffindor quidditch tryouts. I could feel my heart nearly beating out of my chest as I brought my broom to the pitch, standing in a group of about forty who were all hoping to make some position on the team. I wondered how stiff the competition would be for keeper...

I saw Albus standing next to James, who was a beater- James must have picked him to help out with try-outs. He smiled at me for just a split second before going back to looking serious. After all, he couldn't show favoritism, could he?

They split us into groups, seeing who could play the best. Each group would play another one in a mock game, and Al and James would observe and see who played best. I was in group four of six, so I got to watch one game before I would have to play and one afterwards.

Neither of the keepers in groups one or two was very impressive. They missed half of the shots thrown, most of which were fairly easy.

I saw Fred discreetly enter the pitch and join Al and James- he was currently a chaser. Come to think of it, those three were the only ones remaining of the seven who had been on the team last year. That left two chasers, a beater, and a keeper left to be filled.

When team two's seeker had finally caught the snitch (although, there wasn't much point trying out, seeing as how Al was still on the team), I took a deep breath, mounted my broom, and took my position in front of our goals.

The game began, so I watched carefully in case a quaffle came my way. One of the group three chasers tossed it at me, but it was very slow and easily caught. I threw it to one of our own chasers before resuming my concentration.

A well-built chaser from group three propelled the quaffle at me at a very quick speed, and so I flipped on my broom, maneuvering it as I came back around so the bristles would thrust the quaffle opposite the hoops. My move was successful, and I heard cheering from other Gryffindor hopefuls as well as those who simply came to observe.

Before I fully regained composure (after all, flips could make one a bit dizzy), I heard Al, Fred, and James scream my name in unison, as well as a few, 'watch out's from the crowd below.

"Kaori!"

I felt a heavy and fast-moving object connect with my ribs, thrusting me back against the pole of the tallest hoop. I felt so much pain, but my grip had been tight enough on my broom that I hadn't fallen.

That was, until the bludger came round a second time and knocked me in the back of the head.

I was falling towards the ground, barely conscious, and I certainly wasn't going to be after I reached the bottom of the pitch. But I never felt myself hit the ground, because somebody had caught me. I didn't get to see who before the world around me faded to blackness.

* * *

**_Albus's POV_**

I saw the bludger coming for her before she was even complete with her move, but I knew that calling to her while she was in the middle of it could result in her becoming distracted and falling off of her broom. I didn't want that.

While the crowd was cheering for her, I pointed it out to Fred and James, who paled and yelled Kaori's name along with me, but it was too late.

The bludger impacted her full on, not only hitting the front of her, but pitching her against the hard metal of the goalpost. I began racing towards her from the opposite side of the pitch, James and Fred on my tail, as the bludger turned back around, this time connecting with her skull, sending her flying off of her broomstick.

I dove lower as the distance between Kaori and the ground decreased, and caught her just in time. I saw that her eyes were barely opened, which was shocking- most people would have been out cold after being hit that hard. But I couldn't see their blue hue for long before her eyes were shut.

"Somebody help me get her to the hospital wing now!" I yelled. Rose had already dashed onto the pitch, racing to retrieve Kai's broom.

"Here, I'll help you fly her over there," Rose said, mounting the broom. I knew Rose wasn't good at quidditch as a sport, since she had awful aim, but she was a decent flyer to say the least.

"Thanks." I turned back to my cousin and older brother. "Carry on with tryouts- won't do any good to stop at this point. Come to the hospital wing when you finish." The two nodded, the last I saw of them before Rose and I took off, Kaori in tow.

* * *

We had been sitting outside of the hospital wing for quite some time before Madame Pomfrey, who hadn't seemed to age a day (at least, according to my mum and dad), finally came to talk to us. The entire crew had already finished with tryouts, and we all leapt to our feet, eager to hear a response.

"She was severely concussed, with several broken ribs as well as a dislocated shoulder, with a few minor cuts and bruises," Madame Pomfrey delivered. "It had only seemed so extreme, what with her prior injuries."

I stared at her. "What prior injuries?" Kaori hadn't mentioned any prior injuries. She would have told us if something had been wrong, right? "None of these injuries will be permanent, will they?"

Madame Pomfrey brought a hand to her lips. "Oh dear, I thought she would have told you... Well, then all I will say is what the injuries were, not how she got them."

We all nodded, desperate for any details we could get.

"There's a scar, extremely deep, running from her right shoulder-blade, across her back, across her stomach, around her waist, and ending at her left hip." I heard Rose gasp behind me, and noticed that Fred and James were completely silent. I could barely stand to listen to what Madame Pomfrey was saying, as she continued with, "She has previously broken her right leg, and three ribs- the same three that were broken this time." I clenched my fist tighter still. "Ms. Travers is going to be in a great deal of pain for a while, so I suggest you all hold your questions for her until after she feels a bit better." And with that she left.

We all stood silently for a moment, before Rose finally spoke up. "That explains why she never changes without drawing the curtains on her four-poster..."

I looked at her. "You knew something was up?"

She held up her hands. "You know how girls are! I just figured she was insecure about her weight, no matter how many times I assured her that she's just fine where she's at. How could I have known?"

I sighed, defeated. "You couldn't have."

Fred, leaning against the wall now, shook his head in utter disbelief. "How does one sustain injuries like that? And survive, no less."

James pursed his lips and patted me on the shoulder. "At least we know she'll be okay now."

I could feel myself freaking out. Not just sort of freaking out, but hyperventilating, wide-eyed, mental breakdown freaking out.

"James, how could she not tell us about this? Really, honestly, how did she never expect us to find out? And what caused that scar? Honestly! I wouldn't have let her try out for the team if I would have known, there's no way you can let her on, James! No way! Will she even be okay to play?"

"Al, she was the best. And practices don't actually start until Wednesday, and games don't for another month. Do you want to know why she'll be in so much pain when she wakes up?" James asked me. I wasn't entirely sure I wanted to know, but I nodded anyways. "When you break a bone, it mends itself stronger than it was before. If she re-broke them, then hell, she must have gotten hit pretty hard. Either way, there was nothing that would have stopped her getting hurt by that bludger, with or without former injuries."

Madame Pomfrey opened the doors once more. "She's not quite conscious yet, but you can come in and visit her. Just let me know if anything happens."

I rushed inside and took the first seat by her bed, grasping her limp hand gently. Everybody else wasn't far behind, but I couldn't focus on anything but Kai right now. I just wanted her to open her eyes, but at the same time, I knew she would be in pain when she did, so I hoped she would stay unconscious for as long as she needed.

"She looks so... helpless..." Rose murmured, her hand on the one I wasn't holding.

Sure, Kaori had been really sweet and shy when she had first met us, and she was still sweet, but turned out to be very outspoken and opinionated. But she had never been helpless before. At least until now. I felt tears pricking at the back of my eyes.

That's right- Albus Severus Potter, son of the boy who lived, was nearly driven to tears.

Sure, I didn't exactly hold only friendly feelings towards Kaori, but that was really beside the point.

* * *

The hours came and went, and after a while, even Rose had taken her leave to go shower, eat, and sleep. I remained as long as Pomfrey would allow me, and she didn't seem to be kicking me out any time soon.

"Hey Kai, I don't know if you can hear me, but I feel like I need to talk to you," I said, not feeling stupid or ridiculous in the slightest. "I wish you would have told me that you had been injured before, or at least told Rose about your scar. Though, you're probably going to tell me that you didn't want to worry us." I laughed dryly, going on to say, "Sometimes you should let people worry about you a little, Kai. It can't hurt you. And I know someday you'll tell us what's going on with you and how you got hurt so badly, but for now I just want you to know that we're all here for you- James and Fred and Rose and I, and the rest of our family too." She stirred a bit, pulling her hand out of my grasp as she writhed, her face distorting in pain before her eyes fluttered open.

_Merlin, she has beautiful eyes._

Erm, I mean... gods, I need to get Madame Pomfrey!

"Madame Pomfrey!" I called into the darkened wing, "Kaori's woken up!"

I heard the clicking of her footsteps coming towards us, but before she reached us, Kaori croaked hoarsely,

"Did I get the spot?"

"Pardon?"

"Am I Keeper?" She asked hopefully, tears of both pain and desperation swimming in her eyes.

"Yeah, Kai," I smiled down to her. "You're Keeper."

"You'll let me, right?"

I looked down at her curiously. Was she really asking me for permission to be on the team? Why would she think that she needed to ask- I take that back. I was, after all, the one who had gotten upset with her for flying without a jacket. And now she was severely injured. She was right to think I was worried about her; I had already talked to James.

"It's your decision, Kai."

"You're like the big brother I never got to have, Al. If it makes you unhappy, I won't do it," Kaori told me, as Pomfrey got closer.

Brother? Friendzone level 1,000,000 right there.

I messed up her hair. "Tch, why wouldn't I want you to be on the team with me. The other Keeper hopefuls sucked- we'd lose every game without you," I assured her. She winced, and then I remembered that she had hit her head.

"Shit, Kaori! I'm sorry!" I retracted my hand immediately, but she smiled at me tiredly, clearly trying to make me feel better. Typical Kai.

"Language, Mr. Potter!" Madame Pomfrey stopped beside me. "Nice to see you awake, dear. Does it still hurt?"

"Not really, I think I'll be-"

"She's lying, Madame Pomfrey," I said, cutting Kaori off. Honestly, was she really going to try to play this off like she was all fine? "I just ruffled her hair and it hurt her. I can't even imagine what her ribs must feel like."

Madame Pomfrey simply looked between Kai and me, before pulling up a clipboard. "I'll give you something for the pain. For the meanwhile, it looks like you're bones are mending nicely and should be fine by tomorrow. You should be okay for classes on Monday, but I think I'll hold you then just in case." She ordered Kai to drink some horrid-looking liquid, and then left, heavily implying that I should leave as well. It was Saturday night- I had no obligations for the next day.

Kaori stared at me, before practically whispering, "You don't have to stay, Al."

"I do."

"You don't-"

"I _do_," I insisted, reaching for her hand again, which was startlingly cold. "Sleep or something, you must be exhausted." Kaori let her eyes droop shut, before she murmured something.

"Thanks Al. For not pushing for details."

"I know you'll tell me when you're ready," I assured her.

"I promise..." And that was the last thing she said before she dozed off.

* * *

By Monday, Kai assured me that she was feeling fine, but Pomfrey insisted that she stay in for another day, not wanting to take any risks.

I was forced to sit in Divination by myself, seeing as how my partner was absent. I could have gone to sit with Rose and Scor, but I honestly wasn't in the mood to be stuck in the middle of their sexual frustration. Honestly, they should just find a broom closet and snog already.

Not that I wanted that, per se. Rose was still my cousin, after all.

So I took a nap. I knew that if Kai knew that she would disapprove, but honestly, how did she expect me to stay awake in this class without her? She was the only reason I found this class even the slightest bit tolerable.

A large packet of papers was placed in front of each student- two for me, since Kai wasn't here. I idly flipped through it, still regaining my composure from having just woken up.

"Tea and Dream studies?" I heard somebody ask from two tables over.

"Yes," Trelawny said in her dreamy voice. "It has recently been proposed that tea leaves and dreams often go hand in hand, so I have changed the Hogwarts curriculum and it is now a unit that will last from now through the month following the winter holidays." A gleam came to her eye, as though changing Divination curriculum was some incredible accomplishment.

Bloody terrific.

Potions was lonely too. Kai and I were partners there as well, so I was forced to do today's potion thing that it was my worst subject, huh?

The Babbling Beverage that I was currently brewing began to bubble and turn orange. I looked frantically to my textbook, which told me that the liquid should, at this point be rippling and pink.

Pink, of all colours. You've _got_to be kidding me.

Maybe I didn't add enough dragon scales?

I picked up my measuring spoon and dropped a couple more scales into the cauldron, hoping to salvage what was left of my assignment. It started bubbling even worse, turning bright red now.

Well, red wasn't too far from pink, right?

"Uh, professor-" I began, raising my hand to try to get the attention of my teacher who was on the other side of the class, admiring the perfect work of Rose and her partner, who seemed to be in Ravenclaw. Figures.

I wasn't able to keep my hand up for long, because the potion exploded, literally. I was blasted backwards, against the wall next to the door. Kai and I tended to sit towards the back.

"Mr. Potter! Are you alright?" Slughorn rushed over, looking me up and down. "We should really get you to the hospital wing- too many dragon scales can start burning your flesh right off..."

How reassuring.

**My reviewers are so lovely! Thank you so much to the following: ChoppedAndScrewed, untold mayhem, Mrs. Grint-Cozart-Felton-Horan, and duckiex  
****My gift to you guys: if you submit a signed review, I'll send you a pie****ce of the next chapter a bit earlier than I release it. That's right, I know you want it ;)  
Anywhosies, please please please let me know what you think!  
**_Truly yours,  
~**ToTrulyBe**_


	3. Memories and Muscles

**Note: This chapter is very short, and I apologize that it took so long to post, but I really wanted to make sure it was right... Anyways, it's very short, but extremely important in seeing who Kaori really is as a character since we learn more about her accident. Enjoy!**

_Kaori's POV_

I had spent the first half of the day getting ahead on homework in all of the classes I would be missing. I suppose that being stuck here wasn't all too bad.

This morning Rose had stopped by to let me know that she was taking care of James at the owlery and had brought Jirou to me, to keep me company, since nobody would be able to visit due to classes.

Now it was nearly midday, and was sitting and stroking Jirou's neck with one hand, holding up a book in the other. It was actually fairly relaxing, until at least five people burst in, not calm at all.

"Quick, Madame Pomfrey! We need to get this potion off of him- it's starting to burn!" That was Slughorn. Interesting, I should have been in potions right now with Al. I didn't have time to ponder whether or not I might know the person before Pomfrey's voice cut through.

"Get him over here- we have a decontamination shower." Madame Pomfrey hustled over to the group, which consisted of several Ravenclaws, as well as Rose and Slughorn himself. I caught Rose's eye as Slughorn made them all leave so he could escort them back to class. She shrugged and followed him out. Madame Pomfrey was busy taking the injured student to the other room.

Minutes later, I heard a familiar voice protesting, "I'm fine! Honestly, just let me alone!"

"I can't allow that! I need to look at your back! Now go lie down!" Pomfrey ordered. And nobody went back on her orders; she was rather insistent.

I couldn't be bothered to glance up and see who it was, at least not until they ended up taking the bed right next to mine.

"Fancy seeing you here."

My head whipped up, and next to me was Albus, smiling his stupid, goofy grin at me.

"What the heck, Al? How did you manage to get in here during class?" I set my book and glasses aside as I spoke.

"Turns out I'm really bad at potions without you. Who knew?" I rolled my eyes. Of course I knew he was awful at potions- I was the one who took care of our assignments for that class most of the time. "My back is a bit sore though, but I'm fine otherwise."

"You know you'd be failing without me."

"Yeah, I know," He breathed, before his face went serious. "How are you feeling?"

"Just fine," I replied truthfully. "My ribs are still bruised, but they only hurt with contact. They look far worse than they actually are."

Al frowned. "I'm really sorry, Kai."

I waved it aside as though it mattered not. "Don't worry about it, I've had way worse." Oops. Probably not the best thing to say. This sunk in further when I saw his face darken, and I could practically feel rays of gloom emanating off of him. I felt something cold land on my bare forearm, and looked down just in time to see a snowflake melting off of my skin. "Al, stop it."

He looked like he was trying to calm himself, taking controlled, measured breaths. "I can't really help it," he admitted, sheepishly running a hand through his already messy hair.

"Do you really want to know?" I practically whispered. Al would be the first person I was ever telling, and honestly, I couldn't exactly figure out how I was going to phrase everything I wanted to say. My parents obviously knew, so I hadn't had to tell a story to them.

Albus reached for my hand and squeezed it, sending tingles up my arm. "Only if you're ready."

"I don't think I ever will be, so I guess I should tell you now. Besides, you'd be the first whenever I was ready." When he didn't say anything in response, I decided to start.

"I guess we just didn't cross paths through third year- I was kind of quiet, but I had a couple of friends. Honestly, I barely even remembered your name when we met on the train. Anyways, the summer of my third year I was at my house in muggle London and my mom asked me to run down to the corner store and get some milk, and she said I could get some candy for myself," I began, surprised that my voice hadn't yet faltered. I looked to Al's comforting green eyes for a moment, and they were set stubbornly.

"You can stop-"

"No, I can't," I admitted. "So I got down there and I was in one of the back aisles. I had already grabbed a bag of candy off the shelf." Al nodded. "And I was just shutting the freezer after grabbing some milk, when I heard breaking glass. I saw three big men, two with guns and one with a handknife, and then bang, the cashier was dead.

"I had ducked behind the shelf, hoping to Merlin that they wouldn't spot me, but they found me. The two with guns approached me from the front, so I backed up, not knowing that the man with the knife was behind me. I had walked my shoulderblade right onto his knife, and it was pretty deep already, but the gunmen grabbed me to prevent me from squirming as he brought it around my ribs, across my stomach, then around the back of my waist, ending at the top of my jeans on the left." I winced at my inability to tell my story without being extremely specific. Al's grip on my hand tightened, and I could see that his eyes were clenched shut.

"The cashier had pressed the emergency button before he was shot, that's how the police got there so fast. When they came in, I felt myself get thrown to the ground and I felt somebody kick me, but that's all I remember, since I passed out from blood loss." I honestly couldn't bring myself to cry; I had spent too much time agonizing over the event, it was like a bad horror movie that I could replay in my mind.

"I didn't come back to Hogwarts until halfway through last year, but even then I was in private lessons to make up for fourth year. But I was allowed to watch the quidditch games, so that's how I saw you." I smiled, my story finished. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.

Al's eyes were still closed, so I grabbed his other hand. "Al?"

He opened them, and to say I was shocked was an understatement. Al's usually playful eyes were glistening with tears. _Tears_. For _me_.

Before I knew exactly what was happening, I was wrapped up in Al's arms, his hands gently placed where he knew they wouldn't hurt my healing ribs.

"I'm sorry I made you listen to that..." I muttered in his ear. I felt him laugh shakily.

"You went through that and you're apologizing to me? Ori, I'm so, so sorry."

We stayed in that position for a while, before Al made to pull away. As he did so, I felt him hesitate, before he tentatively brushed his lips against my cheek.

Naturally, I turned bright red.

"Ori?" My change of subject was flawless.

"Yeah... Um, Kai, don't think I'm being creepy or gross by asking, but, erm..."

"You want to see it," I presumed.

"If it doesn't make you uncomfortable."

Wordlessly, I stood and brought the white, cotton shirt I was wearing up to my chest, exposing my ribcage and stomach. I gave Al a moment to take in the red, but smooth and faded, scar, as well as the purple and green of my healing bones, before yanking the top back down.

"You can see why I'd be a bit self-conscious about-"

"No." Al cut me off abrasively. "Kai, it isn't that bad, and it just makes you unique. You're one of the most unique people I've ever met, so it only fits."

"Oh... okay..." I could feel my face flushing as I sat back down onto my bed, just as Pomfrey rushed over, her skirt bustling around her.

"Mr. Potter, now that the potion has been washed from your skin, I need to have a look-see at your back. You were thrown against the wall, correct?" She asked, looking down at her clipboard.

Al nodded.

"Alright, Mr. Potter, I'm going to need you to take your shirt off so I can get a better look at your spine."

Ever compliant, Al reached for his hemline and pulled his school shirt off over his head, dropping it behind him and turning so his back was to the nurse. I couldn't help but stare for just a moment. Al was... fit.

He wasn't too muscly, but his seeker training had made him quite lean and given him just the right amount of definition. I could have watched him all day, but I knew I had to look away before he noticed me ogling.

"Well," Madame Pomfrey started, "It doesn't look any worse than some deep bruising." She checked the time. "There are two hours of classes left; would you like to go or stay here?"

"I think I'd like to stay here for the duration- I don't think I'd be able to stay sitting upright in my classes."

"As you wish." And with that she was gone.

"Slacker."

"Shut up," Al said, laughing. "Classes aren't worth going to without you."

* * *

By the time the two of us were released, everybody was already back in the common room, eagerly awaiting our return.

As we entered, people immediately began calling to me, rushing over from their seats by the hearth of the fireplace. James was the first to reach me, and he pulled me up into his arms for a hug as he spun me around. I usually wouldn't mind that kind of thing, but my ribs were still in a great deal of pain.

"James..." I gasped. "Still... hurts." He set me down immediately, apologizing profusely before gently shoving my arm.

"So I take it Al told you the news? That you made Keeper?"

I grinned. "Yeah, but it feels better coming from the captain himself. Please don't think that this accident is going to affect my ability or will to apply myself fully as a member of the team."

James laughed airily. "I wouldn't dream of it."

**So, what do you think? I had to throw in that shirtless bit, I couldn't help myself! Please please please drop me a review- I see how many people read this story and I'd like to hear from more of you. Again, it would be really sweet to have five more before I update again :) I promise, the next chapter is a long one!  
Truly**** Yours,**  
_~ToTrulyBe_


	4. Tea Leaves, Tears, and Tension

**Come on you guys, only two reviews for the last chapter? -_- Sorry I forgot to send the preview to you guys, but I promise it for the next reviewers :)**

**WARNING: This chapter is going to be very Divination-heavy. Not really something you need to be warned about per se, but just thought I'd let you guys know xD**

Kaori's POV

I was actually glad to be returning to classes. I know most teenagers dread going to class every day and wish for breaks, but being away from school for a year and a half really gave me a bit of perspective on how much I actually liked it.

Being careful not to wake Rose, I left the dormitory half an hour earlier than usual to get a bit of fresh air. The confinement to the hospital wing hadn't exactly agreed with me, and I was desperate to walk about the grounds a bit.

I decided to stop at a fountain in one of the courtyards, tightening my red and gold scarf a bit as a gentle spray landed on my cheeks. Heading straight through fall and getting closer and closer to winter, the weather was beginning to get a bit chilly, but was extremely hot at times. You never know in autumn.

Drifting off into a dazed state, I felt my eyes begin to shut. Before I could do anything about it though, I fell backwards into the frigid water, drenching me from head to toe.

Desperate to get inside and change, realizing I had left my wand on my dresser so I couldn't cast a drying charm, I ran through the halls and up the steps, hoping nobody would see me in my pathetic state. I was probably going to catch a cold.

Just my luck to run into Al, James, and Fred as I burst through the portrait hole.

"Um, Kai? Why are you soaking wet on a Tuesday morning?" Al asked, as Fred and James busted up laughing.

"I don't want to talk about it," I grumbled, crossing my arms across my chest. "Now, I need to go get my wand before I catch a cold."

"Here, I can do it for you," he said, whipping out his wand and casting both a drying and a warming charm.

"Thanks, but I really do have to get my wand and bag either way, so, I'll meet you downstairs." I waved the boys off and set off for my dormitory, where I put my wand into my bookbag along with a new jar of ink.

When I stepped out into the stairwell, I was standing steady until I felt the steps suddenly disappear beneath me and turn into a slick slide, giving me no choice but to ride it to the bottom, where I ran into-

"Albus Severus Potter! What the bloody hell was that?" I scowled at him, looking up from my place on the floor.

"You didn't know? If a boy tries to go up the girls' staircase, it turns into a slide so they can't go up. I saw you step out, so I saw it as the perfect opportunity to mess with you." I could see the mirth glistening in his eyes.

"But this doesn't happen when the girls go up the boys' staircase?"

He shook his head. "Girls were thought to be more trustworthy than boys, so they're allowed up to the male dorms."

"So what if somebody forcibly dragged me up there and-"

Al's eyes darkened. "Don't even think about that kind of thing, Kai." He offered a hand to me to help me up, but pulled me into his chest as he did so. "I wouldn't let that happen to you, anyways." His face lightened a bit. "You don't feel like you're getting a cold or anything, do you? That water must have been really cold, especially since it was morning-"

"I'm fine," I told him, pushing away from his chest (before I embarrassed myself) and picking up my bag. "Let's go get breakfast before everything good is gone."

* * *

Sitting at the table with everybody felt nice. It was something you missed, even for a couple of days. Scorpius had somehow slowly become a part of our social group. He mostly talked to Rose and I, but the boys had started to warm up to him.

"Scorpius, are you going to be able to make it to practice tomorrow?" James asked him, taking a bite of bacon immediately after doing so.

Scorpius had been at tryouts? I hadn't even noticed.

"Of course! Wouldn't miss it!" Scorpius replied enthusiastically, clearly happy that James had acknowledged him with anything but indifference.

"What position are you?" I knew there was a list posted, but hadn't bothered to check it.

"Chaser," he stated proudly. "Along with Mark Staten, and James, of course. Nicholas Tran made beater with Fred, and then Al's still seeker and you're keeper." Scor paused momentarily, thinking, before noting, "Come to think of it, you're the only girl this year. Actually, I don't think any girls made any of the house teams, not even Hufflepuff." Hufflepuff was known for having primarily female quidditch teams, for whatever reason.

"Really?" That would be... strange. It would be weird being the only one who wasn't there for locker room pep talks or pre-game conversations.

"Yup," James and Fred affirmed in unison. "Jinx!" they hollered.

"Mature, boys," I scoffed, finishing off my bowl of fruit and pushing it towards the center of the table. "I'm going to go for a quick walk before class," I told everybody. There were fifteen minutes before first bell, and besides, I wanted Rose and Scorpius to walk together. Their banter had diminished significantly, and I saw that as a good sign.

"See you at lunch, Kaori!" James called. "Don't fall into any more fountains!"

"What is he talking about?" Rose inquired.

"Nothing," I told her, probably too quickly. "I'll tell you about it later."

"Hold on!" I heard a fork clatter against a plate behind me. "I'll go with you!"

Al turned up at my side, grinning.

"So, what's it like to know that you are the one girl in this entire castle who can say that they're on a house team?"

I sighed. "It's weird. I mean, I won't get to hear all of the pre-game gear up talks you guys have, or listen to your banter. I feel like it's going to separate me from the rest of the team."

"Nobody thinks any less of you just because-"

"That's not what I'm saying," I groaned. "I'm just saying that part of being a team is what happens off the pitch, too."

"I get that. I also get that you wanted Scorpius and Rose to walk by themselves." Merlin, he could change subjects well.

"Yeah," I admitted. "I know they aren't exactly a couple, at least not yet, but I hate being the third wheel." It was awkward, standing on the outside of their conversations and listening to them flirt.

"Well, I guess that leaves us as a third and fourth wheel."

Was he implying what I thought he was?

Of course not, Kaori. Don't be stupid.

"Divination starts soon," I murmured. That class was extremely pointless.

Al suddenly seemed to realize something, and he reached into his bag only to pull out a stack of papers and place them in my hands.

"This was handed out yesterday in class. I was supposed to give it to you."

I flipped through it briefly, catching that this unit was primarily based on tea leaves and dream studies. Fantastic. I was grateful, at the very least, that Al was my partner.I often had very strange or disturbing nightmares. I wouldn't feel uncomfortable telling him about them.

Entering our classroom, we found that Rose and Scorpius had taken the leisure of taking a corner table. They were both laughing at something the other had said, Trelawney eyeing them curiously as they did so.

Just as Al and I were going to take our seats at our usual table towards the back of the class, Trelawney called to us, "Grab tea cups from the cupboard, dears. Pink for you, dear," she indicated me, "and blue for you." Al nodded, stopping me as I made to move over there.

"I'll get it for you," he insisted, his green eyes twinkling with a smile. Could it be that chivalry wasn't dead?

"Alright..." I took my seat on the soft ottoman, idly staring at the flame beneath the tea kettle in the center of the table. I then took a sniff of the tea itself and smiled, for it was a green tea- my favorite kind.

Al returned and placed a teacup and saucer in front of me before taking his seat across from mine just as class was beginning.

"Alright, students," the aged, probably insane woman told us from her place beneath us, her arms raised, "today will begin our studies in tea and dreams. Today we are using green tea. If you would turn to page ten of your textbooks, you will find a list of its qualities. Now, it is very important that you pour an entire cup of tea and drink it. Tomorrow morning when you wake up, you must record any dreams you had in a notebook specifically designated for this class, then bring them to class and prepare to share with your partners. You will then observe the relationship between both the tea leaves and your dream and submit an individual paper due by the end of the week, then a joint paper due halfway through next week. Understood?"

I nodded, then looked to Al to see whether or not he had actually been paying attention. He was actually quite intelligent when he applied himself. He seemed to have been paying attention, because his head dropped to his hands in exasperation.

"Why do we have to write a joint paper?" I heard somebody call from somewhere else in the class.

"Partners often begin to have interrelated dreams and readings, so the joint paper shall serve as an insight into that," Trelawney clarified.

"Here, I'll pour," I told him, grabbing the handle of the kettle and tipping it over his cup before tipping it back over my own.

"Cheers," Al rolled his eyes and held his cup up to clink against my own.

"Cheers," I echoed.

After downing the cup of tea, a clump of leaves was left at the bottom. I handed it over to Al, who then did the same with his own.

"What did you notice first?" He asked me. I cocked my head to the side, and he explained to me that the first thing noticed was often the most important. Al then said that the closer to the rim, the more current the premonition would be. The bottom would usually be the conclusion of said events.

"Oh." I was momentarily in shock. I didn't know that Al knew a single thing about Divination.

By the end of the period, we had come to the conclusion that Al should be watching out for gloom and sadness which would be resolved by something heard accidentally, while I would respond to things impulsively and develop a romantic interest.

But this was all phony, right?

* * *

I woke early the next morning covered in a coating of sweat, tears streaming from my eyes. I was gasping for breath as I sat straight up, my heart pounding in my chest.

For the first time in over a year, I had dreamt the incident vividly. It had only happened a couple of times within the two months following, and never again after that.

"Kaori?"

Rose had sat up and was rubbing her eyes tiredly, but my blurred vision prevented me from seeing much else.

"Kaori, what's wrong?" Any sleepiness had vanished from her voice as she rushed to my bed and placed a hand on my back.

I was completely hysterical. I had never been like this ever before, and I barely knew what to do with myself. I was only able to manage one sentence.

"Get Al."

**Albus's POV**

"Albus! Wake up now!"

What in Merlin's beard was Rose doing in the boys' dormitory?

I yanked my sheets up over my head, trying to drown her voice out with the warmth that engulfed me soon after.

"Al!" Rose called again, now shaking me. "You need to wake up!"

"What the-" I heard James murmur, and I caught a groan from Fred.

I threw the covers off of me and jerked my body upright. "What the bloody hell is it Rose? What the hell is so important that you needed to wake me at-" I snuck a glance at the clock, "Three A.M! I have been asleep for four hours, and intended to sleep for four more!"

James and Fred were now sitting up as well, though not nearly as fired up as I was. Rose looked frantic, her hair completely disheveled, a wild look in her eyes.

"It's Kai."

I was immediately alert. "What about her?"

"I woke up and she was covered in sweat, and she was sobbing so hard she could barely breathe and the only thing she managed to say was to get you."

"Where is she?" I leapt out of bed, nearly falling over as I did so.

"Common room."

I was out the door in seconds flat, flying down the stairs and to our usual spot- two warm, cozy armchairs located further to the side than most people bothered to go. I heard Kai before I spotted her- short gasps and tiny moans. I found her curled into the corner of one of the large armchairs and slid onto it next to her, grabbing her shoulders and turning her to face me.

"What is it, Kai?" I asked, trying to brush away a never-ending stream of tears cascading down her pale cheeks. Her blue eyes were bloodshot and watery, but she stopped to rub them and swallowed hard.

"I dreamed it, Al," Kai managed, my heart throbbing as she spoke. "I haven't d-dreamt it for just over a year n-now, but it was so-o much worse. I could feel everything and..." She burst into tears again, burying her face in my chest as I wrapped my arms around her.

"Dreamed what?" Fred asked, though I hadn't realized that both him and James had followed Rose down from the dorms and were standing aside from us.

"It's not my place to say." I turned my attention back to the girl who was falling apart in my arms. "Shh, it's okay. You're okay, we're here." I brought my hand underneath her long, dark hair and up to the nape of her neck and gently kissed the top of her head.

"You're going to owe me sooo much, man!" Fred whispered to James, who shook his head self-assuredly.

"No way, mate! I-"

"Oi!" I hissed at the two of them. "Now is not the time for crap like that! If you're going to do that, then leave!" That shut them up in a split second.

"Al, what is she talking about?" Rose asked, desperate for details. Kai pushed away from me, her tears having ceased for the time being.

"Tell them." Oh no. No way. I don't think I could make it through that story without exploding. "It's not usually something I get too emotional about, but, after that dream... I know it'll be hard for you, but... please?" Her voice was oddly stable, and I admired her for being strong and brave enough to let them hear her story.

"Fine." I took a deep breath and told the story that Kai had told me only hours before, ignoring the looks of shock and sadness playing across my family's faces and focusing on the feel of her hand around mine, my skin tingling even during this time of stress.

Rose lips were pursed into a fine line, while Fred and James just stood with solemn expressions on their faces. Kai's tears had begun to flow again, but she still kept her voice even as she told them,

"I don't wish to be thought of any differently. I don't expect special treatment. It's in the past, and I usually don't have an incredibly strong reaction to thinking about it, but re-living it again was difficult to say the least. I'm sorry for interrupting your sleep- you should all go back." When nobody moved, she added. "Please." Reluctantly, everybody went off to their dorms, leaving the two of us alone in the common room.

"Thanks, Al," She spoke into my ear as she wrapped her arms around my neck. "I don't know what I'd do without you." As I cherished the feeling of the two of us pressed together (Yeah, I sound creepy, but I'm a teenage guy. Deal with it.), I instantly felt cold when she separated us, giving me a reassuring smile.

"You sure you're doing okay?"

"Yeah. Just another nightmare." And with that, Kai was up and headed back to her warm bed.

Another?

* * *

I woke to the smell of toast and bacon wafting from somewhere nearby. I grudgingly opened my eyes, recoiling slightly at the light filtering into the Gryffindor common room. Why was I here again?

That's right, this morning...

I decided not to think about it, and instead focus on where that lovely smell was coming from.

"Oh, you're awake!" Came a cheery voice next to me.

"Kai, what are you doing here?" I yawned and rubbed the sleep from my eyes before trying to smooth my hair, so I wouldn't look like a total idiot in front of her. I mean, if I wanted to dig my way out of the friendzone I had to start somewhere, right?

I could see her cheeks turn just a bit pink, as she sheepishly admitted that she had seen me when she was leaving the dorms for breakfast.

"James and Fred brought you down some clothes for classes today, and I didn't want to take any more sleep away from you so I brought some food up from the hall for you." Kai smiled, not at all looking as though she had been crying her eyes out only hours prior. "You better hurry up and eat- there's twenty minutes until first bell."

"Alright... You're doing okay, right?" Her expression dropped.

"Listen, Al, today at breakfast we all decided that we wouldn't mention it anymore."

I nodded, taking a bite out of the food she had brought up for me. "Are your ribs feeling okay?"

"Still hurting a bit. Should be fine for practicing though."

Oh. I had forgotten there was Quidditch practice tonight. She didn't really think she was going out onto that pitch, right? No way was I letting her. But I guess I could wait until later to tell her that, seeing as how we were going to be late to class if I didn't get a move on.

"Let's get going." I leapt up and grabbed the bag James and Fred had been kind enough to bring down and started heading for the portrait hole. I was about to push it open, when I heard a laugh like silver bells behind me. "What?"

Kaori was pulling her hair into a messy bun on the top of her head as she laughed at me. "Planning on going to class in your pajamas, are you?" I looked down and remembered that I was still wearing my night-clothes. Probably should change. She smiled at me as she caught up to me. "Come on, we can stop at the bathroom on the way over."

Following Kai out into the corridor, she lead me to the closest lavatory and waited outside as I changed into my uniform and robes. Sometimes the robes could be a burden, but they were rather nice when it was cold out. We had been having really cold weather lately, which was strange for mid-October. I shoved my pajamas into my bag and walked out to meet Kai again.

"Let's go, we have two minutes." I found that my words were wasted, for Kai was reclining against the wall, her head lolling to one side and her eyes half closed. "Kai?" I rushed over and used my hand to pull her chin gently upright.

I felt her jerk to attention, but not move from my grasp. "Oh!" She cried. "Sorry about that! We should get going, huh?"

Even though she had said we should go, Kaori didn't bother moving my hand away from her chin. Testing the waters, I removed my hand from its current position and instead gently used the backs of my fingers to stroke her cheek. I could feel her skin getting warmer under my touch. Yes. Winning.

I could feel myself starting to react, too, so I pulled away and decided that was enough.

"We really have to go, unless we want Trelawney to give us detention." All of the colour immediately left Kai's cheeks. I could understand her panic- Trelawney's detentions were the worst. She forced you to polish crystal balls, sweep, and clean her china until you could see a perfect reflection of yourself in the side of it.

"Let's go!"

* * *

As we were leaving our last class of the day, somebody was swinging their bag over their shoulder and accidentally hit Kai with it. She told them that it was fine and sent them on their merry way, but I could tell by the way she had winced when it had made contact with her that it had hurt her where she was still healing.

"You okay?" I was legitimately worried about her- I didn't know how easy it would be for her to hurt herself seriously again, or whether or not it would impair her ability to heal.

She looked up at me curiously as she removed her outer robe, leaving just the simple uniform. "Yeah. It's just a bag, Al." My only response was a purse of the lips as we headed up to the tower.

"I'm so excited for my first ever quidditch practice!" Kaori squealed, hopping a bit as she did so as we turned down the hall leading to the Fat Lady. "Hey, how about we stop by the kitchens on the way over and get a snack? We still have an hour until we need to be on the pitch!" When I didn't reply, she cut me off and stood in front of, placing a hand on my chest. "What's wrong, Al? You've been acting kind of weird all day."

I tried my best to ignore the spastic beating of my heart as she placed her hand over it, hoping to Merlin that she couldn't feel it.

"Listen, Kaori, I don't think it would be the best idea for you to practice tonight." I braced myself for disappointment, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened next.

Kai pulled her hand away from me and tilted her head to the side. "What?" Her voice was scary low. That was Kai's typical way of getting mad.

"It's just that I don't think you should risk-"

"Don't tell me what I should bloody _risk,_ Albus!" Kaori shouted at me backing up and muttering the password to the Fat Lady, who looked at us both warily, but didn't open the portrait hole. She always liked to be on top of the drama, after all.

"Kai, just listen to me and be rational! You know what happened the last time!"

"Of course I know what happened the last time! In case you didn't notice, _I spent all weekend in the hospital wing for it_! I told you I didn't want to be treated any differently because of that- _open the door_!- or my prior accident, and you bring it up anyways!" The Fat Lady allowed us entry and Kai stormed into the common room with me close on her tail.

"Kai-" I reached out and grasped her wrist, only to have it yanked away.

"Don't touch me! Is it because I'm a girl? Is that it? Do you think I'm weak, Potter? Don't think I didn't see the look on your face when that bag hit me. I can take care of myself, thank you very much!" Gods, she was hot when she was angry. Her hair was all over the place, her blue eyes were vibrant with emotion, her face was that perfect shade of pink that I just adored...

I'm going to hell for that.

But behind all that, I was scared pantless. Kaori never yelled, ever. And here she was, making a scene in front of everybody in the common room. And of course my family would happen to have front row seats to the event.

"You know that's not true," I tried, albeit weakly.

"Of course I know that! So what is it, then? Do you think I'm not qualified as Keeper? Do you think I'm stupid? Just..." She stopped yelling, ran her hands through her hair, and sighed, "I can't deal with this right now."

I would also be going to hell for the fact that, as she stormed off to her room, the only thing I noticed was her skirt swaying around her legs.

"Oi! Al!" I whipped my head left to see James beside me, fuming. "You don't get to tell people that they shouldn't go to practice, friends or not! That's my job!"

"And you were going to let her? Come on!"

"She's not five!" my brother retorted. "You may be her best friend, but there's only so much control you can have over her!" He lowered his tone a bit as he told me seriously, "Kaori may be beaten up, but she's strong, Al. I know you want to protect her and show her you care, but you can't let her think she's weak. She's felt weak for years, mate."

When the hell did James become so insightful?

**Sooo... PLEASE review! It makes me really sad when you guys don't give me feedback :'(**


	5. Practice, Proposals, and Parties

**Hey guys! I meant to post this Monday night, but my wifi's been all screwy _ So, here it is. Hope you enjoy! But not too much... Just... read on and you'll see xD**

**_Kaori's POV_**

I threw myself onto my bed and reached for a pillow, burying my face in it to muffle an exasperated scream. Finding that screaming didn't make me feel one bit better, I flipped onto my back and threw my pillow towards the door.

"Oi, what did the pillow ever do to you?"

I took a second out of my frustrated musings to look up and find Rose in the threshold of our dormitory, holding said pillow in her hands. It had probably hit her as she was walking in. Oopsies.

"Sorry, Rose," I groaned, flopping back into my previous position. The bed shifted a bit as Rose settled her weight onto it next to me and gently rested a hand on my wrist.

"I didn't catch all of that- mind getting me up to speed?"

Sitting upright and leaning against the pile of pillows at the top of my bed, I spoke. "Al told me that he didn't want me to go to practice tonight. I don't know why exactly I got as mad as I did, but anyways, that's how it ended up being."

"Are you going to practice tonight?" I looked at Rose incredulously, but she simply cocked an eyebrow.

"Of course! Just because stupid Al told me not to doesn't mean anything!"

Rose flipped her curly red hair over her shoulder and shook her head sympathetically before saying matter-of-factly, "You know, Al doesn't mean any harm. He's just really protective."

"I knew that already. I just... I don't know... I don't want him to think of me as weak or feel obligated to have to look after me." Hmm. That makes the most sense actually.

Smiling knowingly, though I couldn't have any idea what about, Rose stood and began heading for the door. "Hurry up, you have twenty minutes to get dressed and be on the pitch, especially if you wanna grab a bite on the way down. And Kaori?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever thought that Al _likes_ looking after you?"

I sat, flabbergasted. My mouth opened and shut like a fish for a couple moments before Rose laughed and left the room.

_Well._

* * *

I swallowed the last bit of the granola bar I had picked up at the kitchens as I pulled my practice robes on in the locker room. It was strange, thinking that all season I would have this entire room to myself. It was rather large, and to be honest, it made me feel a bit lonely.

I checked the time and saw that there were two minutes until practice was scheduled to start, so I grabbed my broom and headed to the pitch.

The sun was shining generously down, though it was apparent that it would be setting by the end of the practice. I squinted up and saw several other members of the team taking some warm up laps or playfully tossing a quaffle back and forth.

"Kai."

I recognized the voice behind me- I knew it as well as my own. I didn't bother turning, but instead mounted my broomstick and kicked off to practice a few defensive tricks I had learned really quick. Before I had the chance to, though, I noticed that my hair was flying every which way as usual. It was in a ponytail, per regulation, but it was still rather annoying. Taking the few moments I had left before things started to get moving, I attempted to wrap it up in a bun instead, which ended up just being a messy mass on the back of my head. At least it wasn't in my face.

There was a shrill whistle down below and I looked to see James standing center field. Everyone raced down and settled into an arc in front of him and Fred, who were captain and designated co-captain. I stood between Al (terrific) and Mark, one of our chasers.

"Alright, guys!" James called to us. "We're primarily going to be working on group maneuvers today, as well as solo moves. But first, 10 warm-up laps around the pitch. Get going!" He mounted his broom and set off to circle the pitch, so we all followed suit.

Of course, Albus ended up at the front of the pack, being seeker and all. He was required to be fast. James and Fred were close behind him, and everybody else followed in a sort of cluster.

I loved the feeling I was getting as I flew circles around the grass below me. I was actually a little sad when the warm-up ended. But as I took my position in front of the goal posts, I was entirely focused on blocking the quaffles coming my way.

As it got increasingly dark, we called it quits and flew down to go to the showers. As we walked, somebody came up next to me.

"Hey, Kaori."

I looked up into the brown eyes of Mark Staten. His dirty blonde hair was only slightly messed up, despite us having been flying around for several hours.

"Oh! Hi! I don't think we've properly met." I offered my hand to him to shake, and he smiled down to me as he took it.

"Yeah. Well, I'm off to the showers... care to walk with me up to the tower afterwards?"

I smiled. "I'd like that."

Maybe I could make a new friend after all.

* * *

After I had washed my hair and changed, I walked directly out of the locker room to see Mark already waiting for me.

"You're fast."

"Nah, you're just slow," he replied, gently shoving me. I laughed, adjusting the strap of my bag containing my sweaty clothes.

Suddenly, the weight was gone. I looked up and saw Mark throwing it over his own shoulder, on the same side of his own.

"Mark, really, it's fine, I can take it myself." I reached across him in an attempt to steal it back, but no luck. "It's not heavy!"

"That's why it's no big deal if I carry it, right?"

I sighed. He had me beat there.

We walked in a comfortable silence for a bit, before Mark spoke up again.

"So, Kaori, this coming weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend..."

I felt my heart jump in my chest. I mean, I didn't know Mark all that well, and I didn't really feel anything for him, but still. I was shocked, to say the least.

"Yes?" I was desperately hoping he would be asking for a way to ask out Rose, or anybody for that matter. Who knows, maybe he didn't feel comfortable asking another girl about it.

"Well, I know we're still sort of getting to know each other, but would you like to accompany me?" I looked at him and saw that his cheeks were pink and he was sheepishly running a hand through his hair, sort of like Al tended to do. "At least as friends, for the time being," Mark added. "No pressure or anything."

I thought about my little crush on Al. Not that anything could happen there. And Mark did just say as friends, right? So if it didn't go in that direction, no harm, no foul, right?

"Sure."

* * *

**_Al's POV_**

Back at the locker room, we were all putting our practice clothes into our lockers along with our equipment. I wasn't really paying much attention to the noise going on around me- I was busy thinking about Kai, and how long she would be mad at me. I know she didn't hold grudges, so it was only a matter of time before she let me at least talk to her again.

"Oi, what's got you in a hurry, Staten?" Scorpius laughed. I looked over and saw that Mark was moving rather quickly, much more quickly than one would usually be willing to after a four hour practice.

I actually liked Mark and Nicholas. I already knew James, Fred, Kai, and Scor, of course. The two of them seemed like really nice blokes, and they had done nothing to make me dislike them.

"Maybe he's got a hot date back in the common room!" Fred added, tossing a towel into his duffel bag. "It is almost curfew, after all."

Mark just smiled, slung his bag over his shoulder, and waved as he exited.

I wanted to try and catch Kai before she went up, so I, too, was in a slight hurry. I left just a moment behind Mark, and contemplated catching up to him to ask if he had seen Kaori.

I take back what I said before- Mark _sucks_.

I saw him and Kai walking together up ahead, talking casually. He took her bag from her, and she was laughing. I gritted my teeth together and pulled my father's invisibility cloak out from my bag, draping it over me so I could follow them more closely.

Nothing had been said for a little while, so I relaxed internally, at least a bit. That was, at least, until Staten opened his bloody mouth again.

"So, Kaori, this coming weekend is a Hogsmeade weekend..."

No. _Bloody no_. He was not going to take Kai to Hogsmeade for the first time since she had been back at school. I had been planning on asking her tomorrow if her and Rose wanted to do anything special.

"Yes?" Kai asked in response. To the untrained ear, she was completely innocent, but I knew her too well. She was anticipating his question.

"Well, I know we're still sort of getting to know each other, but would you like to accompany me? At least as friends, for the time being. No pressure or anything."

Of _course_ she was going to turn him down. There was no way Kai was going to say yes to him- she barely even knew him. And I know what happens on those 'just as friends' kinds of trips. It always ends with the guy trying to make a move on the poor girl who just couldn't say no and then everybody ends up all awkward. Kaori was smart enough to refuse-

"Sure."

Well, if you'll pardon the language...

Shit.

* * *

I made it up to the dorm that I shared with Fred and James without being spotted, thanks to the cloak, which I immediately tore off and threw to the other side of the room. It wasn't too long afterwards that the two of them came in and noticed me. I must have been giving off some serious negative energy or something, because they looked a bit freaked out. Ha.

"What's wrong, baby brother?" James cooed to me, ruffling my hair.

I slapped his hand away. "Shut it, James!" He simply raised his eyebrows, so I sighed and told them, "Staten asked Kai to Hogsmeade this weekend and she told him yes."

Fred gaped, while James simply looked smug. "I told you, Freddy, these are the kinds of things that's setting them back until spring. Just you wait."

I felt my stomach drop. Spring? That seemed so far, though.

"Well surely they aren't dating?" Fred inquired.

I shook my head. "No, she agreed to go as friends."

Fred grinned from ear to ear. "Winter Ball, mate. I'm telling you."

James laughed. "As friends. As friends."

Did they not have anything better to occupy their minds?

* * *

Kai and I hadn't talked all day Thursday. To say I was in a bad mood at breakfast on Friday was an understatement. I had tried to speak to her in Divination the day before, but she was completely silent and simply went about her own business.

Anyways, the reason I was in such a crap mood at this particular moment was because Kai was currently sitting, not with us, but with Mark at the opposite end of the table. I told myself not to look over there, but I couldn't help but sneak a few glances and see how she was laughing and smiling.

"So, Al, any luck getting her to talk to you again?" Scor asked, noticing where my eyes were pointed.

We had actually started talking quite a bit lately. I only let out a long breath in response.

Rose started up from next to him. "Well, you know, if it makes you feel any better, we were talking last night and she said she feels absolutely nothing for Mark whatsoever."

"Is that so?" Admittedly, that did make me feel just a bit better.

"Yeah. She misses you too. Kaori hates not speaking to you."

I pushed my less-than-half-eaten plate of food forward. "I've tried speaking to her! Believe me, I've been trying loads to get her just to say one word! It's not my fault!"

Rose tapped her chin with her finger. "When have you tried?"

I recalled the past days before rattling off, "Before practice, yesterday at breakfast, yesterday in Divination, and yesterday in the common room."

My red-haired cousin groaned and brought a hand to her forehead. "You idiot! Don't you see- there are so many people around in all of those situations! She wants an intimate apology, not-" Rose was cut off by James and Fred bursting into loud guffaws. "Not _that_ kind of intimate, you pervs! Anyways, she wants you to apologize somewhere more private so she knows it's not just some show, since your falling out was already so public."

Hmm. I hadn't thought of that one. I guess I'd have to do it after classes today then...

* * *

The final bell tolled and we were leaving class when I grabbed Kai's wrist and pulled her aside from the crowd and into a nearby broom closet.

"What the- Albus?" It was daytime, and there was a window in the closet, so we could see each other clearly.

"Listen, Kaori, I'm not going to keep you here if you don't want, but before you just storm out, I need to tell you how sorry I am. I really didn't mean to make you feel like you don't matter or anything, but I just really don't want to see you get hurt. I mean, you know I have that whole issue with pro-"

Before I knew exactly what was happening, Kai had wrapped her arms around me and was hugging me tighter than I knew was within her physical capability.

"I've missed you so much, Al." I heard her murmur into my shirt. It was so nice to hear her call me Al again, and not Albus.

"I've missed you too, Kai." I hugged her back.

"I know you didn't mean harm."

We pulled apart and left the broom closet, first checking to make sure there was nobody around. After all, the rumor mill works 24/7 here at Hogwarts.

"Kai, I'm also just going to say this while we've already established my control issues. But please, be careful when you go out with Staten tomorrow."

She rolled her eyes. "Al, seriously, he's a nice guy, and we're just going as friends."

"I know, I know. Just, please?'

"Alright," Kai promised, rolling her eyes again. "You treat me worse than Lily, honestly."

"Just want to make sure you're always okay."

* * *

Back in the common room, we were celebrating James's birthday. We had decorated with streamers and balloons, a stack of gifts in the corner.

Just as the party was beginning, James pulled me aside and asked me, "Did you and Kai make up?"

I glanced back over to Kai, who was chatting happily with Fred. I smiled and nodded.

"Good! I couldn't celebrate my birthday knowing that my baby brother was unhappy!" He clapped me on the back and I scowled at him.

"Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean I won't beat the hell out of you."

"I'd like to see you try!"

We returned to our party, which primarily consisted of family and close friends like the Scamander twins. Scorpius tossed a wrapped box James's direction, and as the pile of gifts grew smaller, Kai abruptly excused herself to her dorm. Her and Rose exchanged a knowing smile as she took off up the stairs.

"Thanks you guys!" James called to everybody, happy that nobody had spent too much money on him. Altogether, he had a pretty good set of quidditch supplies, as a captain should. That was when we heard somebody clear their throats from behind us.

Everybody turned and I could see Kai mischievously peering at us, something behind her back. As she approached the party, I knew already just what she had gotten him...

"So, I'd just like to take this moment to thank all of you for accepting me into your family. I really love you guys beyond anything. My first day meeting you all was after Al and I shared a compartment on the train, and afterwards, him and James helped me carry my owl and my cat. They told me about how all animals seem to really hate James, and I've had this thought ever since..."

At that moment, Kai pulled from behind her the smallest kitten I'd ever seen. It was hardly anything beyond a little black ball of fur resting in her cupped hands. She was grinning from ear to ear as she placed it into James's waiting hands, and he looked just like a little boy in that moment.

"Kai! You're the best!" James threw his arms around her, minding not to hurt his new pet in the process. "You're going to make the best sister-in-law ever!"

Everybody turned to stare at me now. I simply shrugged it off, but all I could think was...

If I'm lucky.


	6. Dates and Death Threats

_Kaori's POV_

I awoke the day after James's party nice and early, dressing in my outfit that I had chosen for Hogsmeade. I had decided on a gray sweater that fell off of one shoulder just a bit with fitted black jeans and my high-top sneakers. Careful not to wake Rose, who was a fan of sleeping in when she could, I slipped down to the common room, out to the moving staircases, and into the main courtyard, where I took a seat on the fountain I had fallen into just that Tuesday.

I just sat and thought for a while about what the day would hold. How could I politely turn Mark down? That is, if he were to ask for another date. Would he ask me to be his girlfriend? Would he insist on treating me to food? As these questions reeled through my head, I hardly noticed the sun getting higher into the sky. My stomach grumbled, and I realized that it was already past ten in the morning.

Somebody has to be up by now, at least, right?

I went to the Gryffindor table, and found that everybody was already there, though some were clearly quite a bit more awake than others. Scorpius and Al were engaged in a game of exploding snap, Rose was looking on disapprovingly and catching Scorp's eye every so often (it's only a matter of time, I tell you), Fred was rocking back and forth half-asleep, and James had his new pet in a little basket in front of him, looking at her adoringly.

Yes, because James lacked a girlfriend, I figured getting him a female cat would be for the best.

"Morning, guys!" I said to them as I took my seat beside James, stroking his cat I was I did so.

"Morning Kai!" James was practically beaming up at me.

Taking it upon myself to butter a piece of toast, I inquired, "So what's her name?"

"Belinda." I grinned at him.

"That's my middle name."

"Yeah, Al told me. I figured that I wouldn't have her without you, so I should name her after you. Though it would have been a little creepy to give her your first name, so... Belinda." James cradled the little fuzzball in his hands, her little paws gently scratching it his palms. It was adorable seeing the big, mean, quidditch captain with his teeny, innocent kitten.

My attention was yanked away from the spectacle at the sound of a loud crackling from across the table. I looked the direction of the sound and saw Scorpius brushing a bit of ash from his cheek, Rose waving her hand near her nose, and Al laughing hysterically. Precisely the reason I hated exploding snap.

Not because of Al's laugh- I could listen to that for ages. It was the exploding that got to me.

"Planning on cleaning that up?" Rose was clearly referring to the remnants of card that remained on the table, as well as a glass of pumpkin juice that had been blown over. Scorpius simply stuck his tongue out at her and cast a quick cleaning charm.

Almost as if he had been hit by a truck, his head jerked up.

"Shoot! I've got to go, I have to meet my Hogsmeade date!"

Al and I both shifted our gaze to Rose. Of course this would upset her, she fancied the trousers off of Scorpius.

"Erm, well, sorry about that Rosie... Perhaps it's all for the-"

"Don't call me Rosie, Albus Severus." Al cringed at the use of his full name- he didn't even like it when I called him Albus. "And I don't care. Scorpius bloody Malfoy can see whoever he damn well pleases." The table shook as Rose huffed and stormed away. I nearly followed her, but thought better of it. Rose liked to think things over for a bit before anybody tried to console her.

Taking a look at the time for myself, I realized that I was due to meet Mark in ten minutes. Probably best to start off now, then...

"I'm off, you guys!" I said to the remaining few. James quirked up the corners of his mouth a little and waved Belinda's paw at me, Fred had fallen asleep with his face resting on an untoasted slice of bread, and Al was... standing as well?

"I'll walk you over," he said to me.

"Alright."

As we meandered down the hall, I couldn't help but look up at the boy beside me. I caught my eye on a black smudge along his jaw. Casually and without thinking I brought my hand up to rub it away.

I could feel Al's skin growing warmer underneath my touch, or maybe it was my imagination.

"Sorry." I retracted my fingers instantly. Of course I had made him uncomfortable. "There was still a bit of soot from that blasted game you guys insist on playing."

"Come on! Exploding snap is loads of fun!" Al protested.

"No, it really isn't!" We reached the entrance hall, and I could see Mark waiting, wearing his weekend clothes and leaning against a stone pillar.

"Well... have fun on your date, I suppose..." Al said darkly. "I'll see you tonight."

And then he was gone, just like that. What the hell was that about?

* * *

"So did you want to grab a bite to eat or something?"

Mark and I had been wandering about Hogsmeade for an hour or so, and it was approaching lunch time. I had actually started getting a bit hungry...

"Sure. Where to?"

We decided on a little recently added restaurant that was owned by a wizarding family that had moved here from America. The food was good, and our conversation was natural, like we had been friends for more than just a few days.

As the sun set on Hogsmeade and we began to make our way back to the castle, things were going normally as I told a story about Al and I from just a week after we had met.

"And then I went to go up to the common room, but I felt something tap my shoulder, so I turned and the suit of armor is just-"

"What's going on between you and Al?"

That was unexpected.

What was going on between Al and me? What did I want to be going on between Al and me?

"We're friends." I stated, before adding, "Best friends."

"Well it doesn't seem that way..."

"What does it seem like, then?"

Mark bit his lip and shook his head. "I guess if you aren't aware of it, it's none of my business to point it out." By this point we had reached the entry hall, and there were crowds of people on their way in surrounding us.

"Aware of what?"

Before Mark could respond, I heard a feminine voice call my name from behind me. I turned to see Rose, with Al and James in tow, beaming through her red curls.

"Kaori! Let's walk up to the tower toge-" She suddenly broke off, as if just noticing that Mark was there. He offered a sheepish smile and half-hearted wave. "I guess I'll wait for you inside, okay?" I nodded, turning back to my 'date' as my best friends walked inside.

"As I was going to say, it's not really my place to tell you if you're not aware of it. So... I take it you're not interested in doing this again?"

This was the awkward part I had been waiting for all day. I frowned, not sure about how to respond. It had definitely been fun hanging out with my teammate, but did he mean as a date or as friends, or-

"I get it. But we're friends, right?" I smiled, defeated. What else was I supposed to do?

"Yeah, friends."

I gave Mark a quick hug and meant to pull away and go inside, but just as I was about to leave his grasp, he dipped his head and gently, swiftly planted his lips to mine, leaving them for only a second before he stepped back.

"I guess I'll see you on the pitch," Mark murmured. And that was all before he retreated into the castle, leaving me standing on my own, my fingers grazing my lips that had just experienced their first kiss.

* * *

"HE DID WHAT?! Did you tell Al? Does Al know?! Good Merlin, does James know?! Who have you told!?"

Rose was shrieking all sorts of questions at me left and right, leaping onto the couch in the vacant common room and practically busting my ear drums.

"You heard what I said, no, no, no, and you're the first one I've told. I was thinking of telling Al later." I tried to connect my answers with the order of her questions, though it was difficult to remember each one.

"You can't tell Al! He'll beat Staten into a pulp! Or hex him into St. Mungos!"

"I have to tell him! Al's my best friend!" I argued. It was true. I don't think I could keep anything from Al, especially not something this important.

"But Kai! It was your first! I mean, you can never get that back!"

"What do you have to tell me and what can't you ever get back?"

Lovely. Leave it to Al to walk in right then.

"Go on, Kai. Tell him." I shook my head, and Rose raised an eyebrow. "Tell him or I will."

"Alright." I knew Rose would make it out as way more than it was. Best for me to get out it the way that I wanted it.

"So, erm, my date with Staten... At the end when we were parting ways and we decided to just be friends he sort of..."

"Snogged her." Rose put in.

"Rose! It wasn't a snog, it was hardly even a kiss at all, really-"

"He did what?"

Good Merlin, Al was scary when he was mad. I kind of wanted to shrivel up in a corner and die.

"You hear what I said..."

"And you didn't want him to?"

I nodded.

For a split second, I thought Al was going to stay put, maybe calm down.

I was entirely wrong.

Next thing I knew, Rose and I were pulling him back as he slid his wand out of his pocket and made a break for the boys' staircase. He was too strong for us to hold back, so we had no choice but to cast a binding spell on him and levitate him to the couch, where he could lie down.

"Al, it's my problem. I can handle it, okay?"

He rolled his eyes in response.

"Please, Kai. You are the most forgiving person I've ever met. If you're not going to hold a grudge then I need to do it for you."

"Fine," I said decidedly. "You can hold all the grudges you want. Hate him for all I care, but don't do any physical harm, please? He's your teammate, and we don't need any drama."

"Alright. Now could you please unbind me?"

Rose did a reversal spell, but we both kept our wands at the ready, just in case Al decided to change his mind and take off.

"Hey Rose, do you mind giving Kai and me a moment alone?" Rose smirked, and I swear I saw her cock an eyebrow knowingly, but she left too fast for me to be sure.

Al sighed and sat up, brushing some invisible dust from his clothes and patting the cushion next to him, inviting me to sit down. I took the seat next to him and wasn't surprised that he had his arm behind me across the back of the couch- we sat like that so often it wasn't really a big deal.

"So what happened today? I want to hear about it."

I told Al everything, the way I always do. Everything from what we talked about, what we ate, and even our conversation on the walk back, the one about me and him.

"What do you think he mean by that, Al? That I wasn't aware of something?"

Al hesitated, then removed his arm from around my shoulders.

"I didn't think I was so obvious..."

"Obvious? About what?"

He shook his head and stood up. "I should get going, Kai, I told James I'd meet him to talk about what we want to work on at the next practice."

Why did everybody seem to know what was going on except for me?

**I know, I suck :( I'm so sorry it took me this long to update. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner. I would love it if you reviewed :)**

**Truly Yours,**

**~ToTrulyBe**


	7. Parents and Patronuses

**Hi guys. I know I really suck for leaving you guys for so long, but I promise I'll be better this coming year. It's one of my resolutions. And I already have a great idea for the next chapter, so if I get up to 30 reviews on this one I'll post it right away! If not I'll try to have it up by Saturday! Please look out for your name at the end if you have reviewed in the past!**

_Al's POV_

Quidditch practice rolled around on Monday, and I could honestly say that I was dreading being in the same room as bloody Mark Staten. Even though he wouldn't actually be bloody, at least not literally. Though that could be easily arranged...

Okay, Al. Better stop yourself while you're ahead.

As I pulled on my practice clothes, I heard Mark and one of Hufflepuff's chasers talking on the other side of the locker room, since Hufflepuff's practice had ended right before ours was set to begin.

"So what happened with that girl you asked to Hogsmeade last week? How'd that go?"

"Eh, she wasn't really my type. Besides..." I could swear I heard a hesitation before he went on and said, "She's already got her eye on somebody. She just doesn't know it yet."

"Oh, sorry mate."

Staten made to leave and follow his friend out and quickly flicked his eyes my way.

"I don't feel too bad. Didn't want to get in the way of anything..."

I held myself in my spot for a moment before rubbing my chin thoughtfully.

For somebody that had just snogged my best friend/crush, I guess Staten really wasn't a bad guy after all.

* * *

Wednesdays suck. Why do they suck so much?

At least this weekend was a home weekend.

After the war, apparently parents had been extremely scared to send their kids back to Hogwarts- with good reason, you know? I wouldn't want my kid going back to a prior battleground/death hole. So Hogwarts came up with the idea of having a weekend every few months where kids could go home to their parents and spend the whole three nights and two days with them. I guess that relieved some people's fears a bit, but point is, they're still around.

"You headed home this weekend, Kai?" James asked her, throwing himself down on the couch next to her.

"No- my dad is usually working on the weekends and my mother is out of town. It would be best if I just stayed here."

An idea began to pick at the edge of my mind. I knew I shouldn't have acted on it, I really did, but...

"Why don't you come over to ours then?"

Kai frowned. "I'm sorry?"

James just looked at me sideways, clearly wondering if anybody else was going to be informed of this plan, or if our parents would even allow it (which they would, of course. They housed any of our friends who needed a place for a bit.) "Yeah, I mean, it would be better than you just staying here by yourself. We could show you what magical households are like, too."

She still looked a bit confused but her head must have cleared up, because her eyebrows moved to a more relaxed position and she smiled and nodded to me. "That sounds fun! I'll let my parents know- they felt bad about leaving me here alone." Kai jumped up, smoothed her skirt and rushed out the door to the owlery.

"Well, it had to happen sometime."

"What?" I looked to James.

"You're not really a friend of the Weasley-Potter clan until you've stayed over. And Mum and Dad still haven't met her yet, you know."

That actually hadn't occurred to me, but really, if this was a girl I wanted to date eventually, it was best if they met her. Yeah, that would definitely make things easier if we make that transition...

WHEN we make that transition. Confidence is good.

"Yeah, I guess. Is Lily bringing anybody?"

"Rose is staying at ours this weekend. Maybe you should also invite Scorpius..." James wiggled his eyebrows at me, but I shook my head automatically.

"No way. She's so mad that he had a Hogsmeade date and thinks he was leading her on. Unless you want us short a teammate-"

"Hogsmeade date?" James repeated incredulously. "I saw him at noon in the library doing a charms essay."

"So he lied?"

"Seems so."

Interesting. I gave a quiet snort of derision and rolled my eyes. That idiot thought jealousy would work to his advantage. As a matter of fact, that was probably the worst way to get positive attention from Rose. For all that I knew she could have a dart board with a picture of him charmed to stick right in the center.

I stood and brushed off my pants. James looked at me and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Owlery."

"Way to not be creepy, baby brother." A blush crawled up my cheeks as I realized that Kai had just told us that she was headed to the owlery as well, to let her parents know that she was coming to stay with us for this long weekend.

"It's not that!" I protested. "I just think I should let Mum and Dad know as soon as possible that they're going to be having another guest. I mean there's only two more days before Friday night."

"We're taking the Saturday morning train this time. It's less crowded, at any rate."

"Still." With that I decided to leave, actually hoping that I just might catch Kaori on her way out.

* * *

As I briskly walked through corridors towards my destination, I happened upon Scorpius, snogging some girl against a wall. I snuck by as quietly as I could, not really looking close enough to see who it was that he was trying to hurt Rose with. I'll deal with him later, when I wasn't trying to be at the right place at the right time.

Finally I reached the stairs of the owlery, and it turned out that I did catch Kaori on her way out.

Literally. As soon as I went to go up the stairs, I felt something collide with me, nearly pushing me backwards, but I was able to stabilize myself before I could actually fall.

"Al!" She exclaimed, looking up at me with a fading panic glimmering in her blue eyes. She flipped her nearly waist-length hair out of her face and smiled. "I'm so glad you were there! I forgot about the trick step halfway up..."

"Seriously, what would you do without me?" I teased, reluctantly releasing her from my grasp and feeling cold immediately afterwards.

"I honestly have no clue..." Kai murmered.

It didn't seem like she meant for me to hear her- it actually didn't even seem like she had meant to speak aloud in the first place.

Snapping to her senses, Kai started spewing out words. "Well, it's starting to get late and I guess I really oughta go and double-check my potions essay, and I need to make sure I have a bag prepared for this weekend since I wasn't expecting to go anywhere and wasn't going to bring anything and should I bring anything special- maybe your parents want me to-"

"Kai." I grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently. "Calm down. Your potions essay is probably already as perfect as it's going to get. It won't take you long to pack two changes of clothes and night clothes will you? And you have two days. My parents won't expect anything of you. They've already heard enough from me anyways."

Crap. Now it was my turn to slip up. I didn't want her to know that I talked to my parents about her frequently in my letters home. Actually, I doubt there was a single one that I had sent this year that didn't include her. I remember the first one I sent this year, I spent about half a page describing Kai in depth, down to the colour of her eyes. Then after we found out about her incident I had mailed them about that too. Geez, they must think I'm a total stalker.

"Oh... okay. But I still need to read over that essay... I'll talk to you in the morning, alright?" Before I had the chance to respond, Kaori quickly planted her lips against my cheeks and took off back the way I had just come.

Good thing, too, otherwise she would have seen my face turn pure scarlet.

Up in the owlery, I used one of the school quills to scratch out a letter to mum and dad.

_ Parents~_  
_ So I know that this weekend is a home weekend, and we usually just have James, Lily, and me home (with Rose sometimes) and relax, but Kaori really needs a place to stay. Both of her parents are working this weekend and she was going to be in the castle all by herself._  
_ I already told you about her incident, and I didn't want her to be lonely on her first home weekend back to Hogwarts. I already told her she could come... so I'm sorry if you guys had plans for us. Please let her come? I really want you guys to meet her in person. And would you mind not embarrassing me for once in my life, please? _  
_ Write me back as soon as you can._  
_ ~Al_

With that, I rolled it shut and gave it to George (named for Uncle George, who had given him to me on my 11th birthday) and started hastening back to the tower. Curfew was soon, and the prefects this year could be rather fanatical if you were even a second late.

* * *

_Kaori's POV_

The next day at dinner, the owls came in to deliver the post. My parents had sent me a letter apologizing profusely for not being able to be home for me this weekend, and reminding me to be a good guest and thank the Potters for having me. Al also received a letter from his parents, blushing as he read it, and I couldn't help but wonder what exactly it had said to make him have that reaction.

I went to the library before anybody else had finished- I had barely eaten at all, sick to my stomach about the DADA practical examination that we had tomorrow. I was pretty solid at just about everything, especially potions and muggle studies, but when it came to performing defensive spells, you could count on me to be entirely hopeless.

I kept reading over the page, muttering the incantation to myself and doing tiny wandflicks similar to the ones outlined on the page. I then tried the wandwork on its own, and succeeded in flipping a page. Lovely.

Stressed beyond belief, I slammed the book shut out of exasperation and then laid my head across it in a similar manner.

"Practicing for Defense, I see."

Just the person I needed. If there was anybody who could fix this kind of situation, it was Al. He was especially gifted in Defense Against the Dark Arts- perhaps it was just in his blood.

When I didn't respond Al took the seat next to me and placed a gentle hand on my upper back.

"Hey, you'll get it. What is it that you don't understand?" He looked down at the charm and recognized it as the one for the test. "Here. Get up."

"What?" I looked into his green eyes and cocked my head to the side. Whatever it was, I knew I could trust what Al was doing.

"Just trust me, come on."

Al grabbed me by the hand and yanked me towards the exit of the library, barely giving me enough time to react and grab my wand from its place on the table. He shoved open the double doors and forced me to run behind him just to keep pace.

I didn't recognize the part of the castle we were in. "Al, where are we going?"

"You'll see, just be patient, Kai!"

We finally stopped in front of a large painting, where Al pointed out a single pear and gave me the oddest instructions.

"I'm sorry, did you say to tickle it?"

"Yes."

"What is it supposed to do?"

"Just try it, for heaven's sake." He rolled his eyes at me and nudged me towards the painting, where I hesitantly extended a finger and rubbed the pear near the corner.

The wall before me opened up, and before I really knew what was happening, I was in what appeared to be a less public part of the kitchen, different from the area of snacks open to all students, bustling with... are those elves?

"Al... what exactly are those creatures?" I whispered in his ear so none of said creatures would hear me.

He looked down at me incredulously. "Don't tell me that you don't know what a house elf is!"

"I don't..." I admitted, albeit sheepishly.

"A house elf is sort of like... I don't want to use the word servant... but they work for free for wizards and witches, but the odd thing is they enjoy not being payed. They like working for us."

I crinkled my nose, having a hard time believing that. All they lived for was to serve witches and wizards?

"That seems a little... sad. Maybe even a bit cruel. Of course they like it if they don't know any other way of life..."

Al chuckled. "You should have a talk with my Aunt Hermione sometime, then."

"What?"

"Forget it."

"Anyways, Al," I looked him square in the eye. "You never told me why we're here."

"You're hungry, right?" I simply gaped, not knowing what to say for his observational skills. "I saw you at dinner. You barely at all, the way you usually do when you're nervous for something. Don't think I haven't noticed that you do that. It just worries me, so I wanted to make sure you got something to eat."

Now this may sound kind of weird, but Al saying this almost drove me to tears. I rarely cry, unless I'm watching a sad movie, or those very rare occasions when I think about my incident, but the tenderness behind Al's words made me want to start crying for absolutely no reason.

He bent down and pushed a strand of hair out of my face. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great. Just... thanks." I grinned uncontrollably at Al.

"So let's get you some food!" One of the elves came over to us, asking us what we wanted. Al told her to get me some hot chocolate and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. My two favorites.

We sat down in a corner and waited for her return, and it was then that I noticed Al hadn't yet let go of my hand from when he had pulled me from my study spot in the library.

"Al... you know you can let go of my hand."

"I know, it's just-" Al acted as though he was going to say something, and then froze, suddenly pulling his hand out of mine and looking the opposite direction. Odd.

A high pitched voice sounded before us. "Here you go, Mister Potter! I hope your girlfriend likes it!" And with that she scurried away, pulling out a dishtowel and racing to the sink.

Girlfriend. I liked the sound of that. Rather than vocalize this (and Merlin knows how embarassed I'd be if I did) I reached for the sandwich and ate it faster than I had ever eaten anything before. The hot chocolate, though, I took the time to sip. All the while, Al was trying to calm me down, a skill he possessed that hardly anybody else did.

"I forget, what was it that we're being tested on?"

"The Patronus Charm." Apparently it was highly advanced and had been moved from Charms to DADA after the last wizarding war, and now was taught at schools.

Al grinned. "I know exactly what to do for that. Come on, it's after curfew."

* * *

Back at the common room we were the only ones there. Everybody else had gone to bed, since Friday was usually exam day and everybody needed their sleep.

"To execute a Patronus, you have to think of a very happy memory. The happiest you've ever felt in your life," Al instructed me.

"Alright..." I thought back to the day my parents had given me Jirou, how happy I had been to look into that basket and see my kitten staring back at me. I pulled out my wand and uttered, "Expecto Patronum!"

Nothing came but a few silver whisps.

"You have yours, don't you? I'm the only one in the class who hasn't gotten one yet!" I crossed my arms and sighed, not wanting to be embarrassed the next day when I would be the only one unable to make a full-out Patronus. "Can I see yours?"

Al bit his lip and drew his wand. "Well... I guess it can't hurt." He paused for a second, as though bringing a memory to mind. "Expecto Patronum!"

At first his was noncorporeal, which wouldn't get an Outstanding on the test, but it slowly shifted into the form of a fox, which began to bound around the room, circling me in the air twice before landing at my feet, observing me for just a second before Al lost his concentration and let it fade away.

"That was amazing! I had no idea yours was a-" I was cut off by a massive yawn. It was nearly 11 at night, and I wasn't used to staying up so late on a Thursday.

"You should get your rest. You definitely won't be able to do the test if you're tired." Al slipped his wand away and nodded towards the stairs. "Sleep tight."

"Wait, Al." He froze and turned around. "What if I can't come up with a memory happy enough?"

He blushed just a teeny bit, though I have no clue why. "I'm sure you have a memory that would work. And you can use several memories, even, playing them all at once. I've heard that sometimes even imagined scenarios can work just as well..."

And then he was gone, taken off up the stairs to his dormitory.

Curious.

* * *

Al plopped himself down beside me in Defense Against the Dark Arts, having ran from his Herbology class on the other side of campus. I wasn't taking Herbology this year, but rather was taking Ancient Runes instead.

"Listen, Kai, you're going to do fine. I'm sure of it."

He barely had time to say this to me before the teacher came in and told us to line up, to show him our patronuses one by one. He did, however, change the standards. No marks if you produced nothing, middle marks of you produced even something small, a slightly above average grade if it was non-corporeal, and full credit if you produced your patronus in its animal form.

I was so nervous- I had continued practicing even after Al had gone upstairs last night and had barely managed to produce a faint non-corporeal Patronus. I could feel my hands shaking, and Rose gently placed a hand on my shoulder, then went to stand with Scorpius towards the front of the line. I wondered what was up with that.

Al was right in front of me, and as more and more people presented their patronuses (half and half between corporeal and non-corporeal, with a couple of failures in between), he stepped away to present his own.

Just before he shouted out the spell, I noticed his eyes quickly flick towards me.

"Expecto Patronum!"

His fox appeared once more, this time seeming stronger than it had last night. It was brighter and less transparent, more energetic as well. After a solid twenty seconds at least, Al let it fade away and grinned.

"Excellent work, Mr. Potter!" Professor Cindrel exclaimed. "Purely excellent! Next!"

Shoot. This was me. This was my time to go.

As I walked to the center of the classroom and took Al's spot, I barely heard him say, 'You can do it, Kai.'

I took a deep breath and shut my eyes, trying to draw a strong memory to mind. I thought about the first time I had seen Al on that train, that first conversation, all those late nights, all of the times we had shared together in the common room and on weekends, the practices on the quidditch pitch, the feeling of his hand wrapped around mine the night before. Then an imagined scenario sprung to my mind.

We were sitting in the courtyard, and it was snowing. Our fingers were intertwined and we were laughing about something stupid. Slowly, he leaned forwards and-

"Expecto Patronum!"

There was unexpected force coming forth from my wand, and I overcame my shock for long enough to catch what animal was racing circles around me.

It was a fox, exactly like Al's.

The professor gave his regards to me, though I couldn't focus on what he said. Didn't they say that patronuses had some sort of relationship to personalities or personal relationships? The famous story of Al's grandmother and Severus Snape, one of Al's namesakes shows that they both had a doe as their patronus.

I could feel all eyes on me as I made my way to stand next to Al again, though not really helping myself by doing so. Would Al think it was weird?

And an entire weekend to spend at his house to boot.

Great.

**Thanks to ****_Pearlstar, FutureNargleHunter, Guest, R.H.S, .Mar.x, clouisejohnr, bookangel1624, Mrs. Grint-Cozart-Felton-Horan, . , ChoppedAndScrewed, potterduckx,_**** and ****_untold mayhem_**** for your lovely reviews- I love you guys!**

Truly Yours,

_~ToTrulyBe_


	8. Discoveries and Dozing Off

**You guys are amazing! I can't believe the amount of reviews on the last chapter- thank you everybody who reviewed! Make sure to check for your name at the end of the chapter, and please let me know if I've missed you! I've also decided to respond to some in the chapter rather than over personal message, so check that as well! I won't be able to have the next one up until sometime next week, but getting to 40 reviews would really make my life!**

**I was only a quarter of the way through writing this when I checked my email and saw the amount of reviews- I stayed up late just to finish it for you guys :) Enjoy!**

_Al's POV_

Kaori and I had the same patronus.

The same. _Freaking. One._

I personally was happy at the thought, because perhaps it meant she was thinking of something similar to what I was thinking of- us, and all of the moments we've had as friends, and even hopeful wishes of something more.

Still, I knew I was going to catch complete hell from everybody else about it.

Shocking enough, the rest of the class had remained silent immediately after, choosing instead to stare and roll their eyes, as though they had all seen it coming. Still, this kind of thing wasn't common to see among sixth year students, especially since the Patronus Charm didn't used to be taught at Hogwarts at all.

I was back in the dorms that night, not having really spoken to anybody since the exam, and packing my bag for the train the next morning. I heard people stomping up the stairs, and the next thing I knew my door was being thrown open, my bag was pushed from my hands and onto the floor, and I was thrown onto my bed.

"We heard what happened in your class!"

"Merlin, wait till Mum and Dad get a load of this!"

"I'm so right about the Winter Ball!"

"Mate, don't even go there, I-"

"GET OFF OF ME YOU IDIOTS!" I pushed the bodies off of me and grabbed my overturned bag, spilling all of the contents out in doing so. "Just fantastic. Yes, Kai and I have the same patronus, yes, I stayed up late last night trying to teach it to her, yes, I do think about her as a happy memory- It doesn't mean anything!"

Rather than getting them to shut up, this just made it worse.

"Oh, but you wish it meant something." James testified.

"Albus, Albus, Albus," Fred muttered, shaking his head and putting his arm around my shoulders. "You've only given us more to go off of. We never knew about your late nights or what you think of- you really should be a bit more selective with what you say."

I felt my face reddening. I had given them much more than they wanted or even could have expected.

"Just forget it, okay?"

This last comment seemed to keep them at bay for a bit, since they both went to pack their own separate bags for only a second. All was quiet in our dorm, but finally James decided to speak up.

"You really have it bad for her, don't you?"

His voice was quiet and subdued, as though trying to appeal to my soft side. I flicked my eyes towards him and saw James cross-legged on his bed, smirking at me. As I opened my mouth to respond, I felt something brush across my feet.

I looked down to see Belinda taking the liberty of sitting upon them and I couldn't help but smile a bit remembering how Kaori had given it to him for his birthday, and how excited she had been in hopes that he would like it. I remembered assuring her that James would love it, but still Kai was worried that the cat would disappoint.

"James, you just have to understand it... I think about her all the time and can't help but be drawn to her. It's like... I dunno, I just really don't want to screw things up with her." Goodness I sounded like a girl. I was probably going to catch hell for that, too, knowing my luck.

On the contrary, Fred and James just shared a knowing look. "Don't worry, baby cousin," Fred laughed, "It's nothing we didn't already know!"

* * *

The next morning we loaded up the carriages to head over to the train station at Hogsmeade. Kaori was wedged between Rose and I, James, Fred, and Lily on our opposite side, very similarly to the way we had been the first day I met Kaori. She and Rose were laughing hysterically at some inside joke, and I was holding both Jirou and Belinda in my lap (James was looking for one of Belinda's toys in his bag, hoping he hadn't left it at the castle and Kai had asked me to hold Jirou for a bit so she could fix his basket).

As we boarded the trains with the few others who had chosen to wait for the Saturday morning train rather than the Friday night train, my brother, sister, and cousins headed to the usual compartment. Without even speaking, Kaori and I shared a knowing grin and skipped past theirs and towards ours, the one at the back with the cracked window that couldn't be magicked out of its broken state.

We put our bags easily up above our heads; these ones weren't trunks heavy with a year's worth of books and clothing.

"I can't believe this is where we first met... and not even so long ago. I feel like I've known you for my whole life," Kaori told me, smiling her beautiful smile that was reflected in the pool of her blue eyes.

"I know. I don't even know where I'd be without you. Failing Potions class, no doubt. Falling asleep every day in divination. The Gryffindor team would absolutely suck, and we'd never win a game." I rattled off a list from the top of my head.

"We still haven't had our first game yet," She pointed out. "I can't wait though. I only a week and a half left!"

I smirked. "Hufflepuff won't know what hit them when they get a load of our Keeper."

"They won't even have a chance to try to score; our amazing Seeker will catch the snitch before anybody even takes off."

She was complimenting me back? And biting her lip... she truly was trying to kill me.

Maybe right now was the perfect time? I mean, we were alone, she was about to meet my parents... perhaps this was a moment presenting itself to me.

"Listen, Kai, there's been something I've been wanting to tell you for a while..." I started, fiddling with my wand in my pocket- a nervous habit.

"Yeah?" What was that I saw in her eyes? Could it maybe be... hope?

Tch. Don't flatter yourself, Potter. She was probably just confused since we usually told each other everything right away.

"Well, I-"

The door to the compartment flew open, and there stood Fred, his eyes the size of dinner plates and just about ready to pop out of their sockets.

"Al, you won't believe what I just saw! I'll never unsee it in a million years, I swear..." He suddenly paled, and Kai moved her legs in order to make room for him to take a seat, which Fred took graciously.

"I really just wanted to see where you guys were at, y'know, and then I noticed that Rose had gone as well, so I was checking each compartment and I found her and Scorpius going at it a little ways down..."

I thought I was going to choke. "By 'going at it', you don't mean..." I trailed off, knowing Fred would understand my implications.

"Merlin, no! I'd definitely have to go catapult myself of the back of the train if I'd seen_ that_." He shuddered and shook his head. "No, they were just snogging..._ really_snogging."

The first thing that sprang to mind was that I ought to let Rose know that I had seen him snogging some bird on my way to the owlery only days prior. I mean, she really should be aware of that, right? I'd feel bad, since Scorpius and I were becoming friends since he joined the house team, but if he was just playing Rose that would be unforgivable.

Wait a second...

Where exactly had Rose been that night?

Thinking back on it, I hadn't seen her after dinner, nor had I seen her in the common room when I had invited Kai to stay over.

And then it would make sense that they were standing with each other while they were in line for the DADA test.

Shit. I may have to take Fred's idea of pitching myself off the back of the train and waiting on the tracks for the Hogwarts Express to make its next rounds.

"Al? You alright?"

The only answer I had to give was a slight shake of the head. I could feel my stomach reeling, and it wasn't motion sickness from the train.

I mean, how had I let this happen right under my nose? I was happy for the both of them, don't get me wrong, but the worst part was that I hadn't even seen it coming. I knew they were in mutual 'like' with each other, but I had definitely not expected for them to start snogging and what-not within the short while that we had been back to school.

"Seriously, is something wrong?"

I jumped a bit at the brush of Kai's hand against my knee, and snapped my head up to see her looking at me with a concerned (yet amused) expression.

And here, ladies and gentleman, was the reason.

I was so distracted with my own love life that I had ceased to notice trivial things like Scorpius and Rose talking more often, walking together, whatever.

At least it was a decent reason, right?

Right?

Of course it was.

* * *

Once we disembarked the train at King's Cross, I eagerly looked over the numerous heads around me in search of my parents. I finally spotted them near the exit; it seemed that Lily and Rose had already found them, while Fred had left to go meet his own parents. They made eye contact with me and waved me over.

Kai began wandering away from me, not really sure where they were, so I was forced to grab her hand (the one that wasn't latched onto Jirou's basket) and pull her towards them, though I tried to let go of her before we were fully visible to them. Didn't need any assumptions being made, anyways.

"Hey Mum, Dad, this is Kai- I mean, Kaori." I smiled and gestured to her.

"Kai is fine," Kai corrected, extending a hand to my mother first, and then my father. "It's nice to finally meet you. Albus talks about you all the time."

"We could say the same about you," my dad joked. He gave me a little smirk and I gave him a glare which hopefully said 'cut it out now'.

"Thank you very much for letting me stay with you this weekend." She was now speaking to both of my parents, bowing slightly. "I'm sorry for the trouble."

"It's not a trouble at all!" My mum insisted. "Now, where in the world did James wander off to?"

"I'm here, Mum!" James emerged from the small crowd of students and parents, holding his own kitten in her basket. "I can't wait for you two to see my cat!"

* * *

_Kai's POV_

Back at Al's house, I couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy walking around by myself. I put my stuff in their guest room, across from Al's, and just sat on the bed, wondering what exactly I should do. Just as I lifted the cover on Jirou's basket, there was a knock at my door.

"Kaori, can I come in?"

I breathed a sigh of relief- it was just Rose. I replied with a quick 'sure' as I removed my shoes and placed them under the bed.

Rose practically tore the door off on her way in and threw herself onto the previously neatly-made sheets of the bed I'd be staying in, making sure to slam the door shut behind her.

"I have something I've gotta tell you, Kai, and I can't tell Al or James, or anybody else but Lily."

I decided to play dumb for a moment- after all, it could be something entirely different. "What is it?"

"On Wednesday, Scorpius and I were walking back from dinner together, arguing about something stupid- I can't even remember. Anyways, we got so caught up in doing that that we barely noticed the time, and when I told him that we ought to get back to the common room, he stopped me and we just started..."

"Yes?"

Her next word was practically a whisper. "Snogging."

I raised my eyebrows just a tad. I mean, I knew there had been something going on with them all week, but I was under the impression that this morning had been their first time round.

"And we've been talking a lot this week and we were even doing that on the train this morning, and he asked me out!"

This was the point where we acted like total girls and squealed into pillows, because it was pretty awesome news for one of your best friends to have finally snagged the guy she's liked for who-knows-how-long.

"I'm so happy for you, Rose!"

"It's so amazing!" Rose cried, her face pink from all the excitement. She immediately turned serious. "Please don't tell any of the boys, though, I can't have them know just yet. Only you and Lily know."

"Um, the thing about that, Rose, is..." I proceeded to to explain what had happened on the train this morning- how Fred had come in with that look on his face like he was about to be sick.

"Oh Merlin, no! He's going to tell everybody and everyone is going to know! I'm shocked that Al didn't say anything to me on the way over here!"

Rose leapt up and yanked me down the hall, down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Al and Lily were sitting at a counter while their parents were already halfway through the preparation of lunch. She released me, practically throwing me onto Lily as she ran to yank Al out to the yard by his collar, practically choking him. Poor boy.

"Do you have any idea what that's about?" Lily inquired, helping me steady myself. I gave her a knowing look, and she immediately understood. "Oooooh..."

"Mind clueing us in?" Mrs. Potter asked, cutting a sandwich in half and placing it in front of her daughter.

"Sorry, I can't tell you, Mrs. Potter. I promised Rose." I smiled at her, and offered a faint thank you when she put another sandwich at the next seat over and offered for me to take it.

"Please, call me Ginny." She flipped her hair auburn hair over her shoulder and looked wearily out the window at her niece yelling at her son. "Those two... I hope they don't kill one another."

"Ginny," I said, trying the name out, "do you think tonight I might make dinner?"

Both her and Mr. Potter seemed taken aback. "I'm sorry?" She managed to respond.

"I'd like to make dinner. You know... just sort of as a thank you for letting me stay here?"

They smiled at each other, and Mr. Potter told me, "That would be lovely."

* * *

_Al's POV_

"When's dinner gonna be ready? And have you seen Kai anywhere?"

My parents were sitting on a couch in our living room, reading books and not seeming to have made any start on food for the night. I was starting get hungry, and I hadn't seen Kai in over half an hour.

"She's in the kitchen making dinner herself. I thought she told you?"

When they told me this, I hastened over there to see how she was doing. I had know idea that she was able to cook, much less that she had asked my parents for permission to cook for all of us.

Sure enough, Kai was there, her long hair up in a messy bun to keep it out of her face and out of the food. Her face was slightly pink from working over the stove, and I noticed that she was chopping vegetables.

"I didn't know you could cook."

I really hadn't meant to surprise her- I thought she had heard me walk in. But obviously she hadn't, for when I spoke the knife slipped and grazed her opposite hand.

"Shoot." Reacting quickly, I shot towards the drawer with bandages in it and pulled one out, running her hand under some water before applying it. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's not a problem- none of it got in the food, so..." Kai trailed off and smiled as I finished putting the bandage on the back of her hand. The cut was nothing serious, just a small nick, but still, I raised her hand to my lips and smiled back at her.

"Even so, it was still my fault."

Kai let her hand linger in mine for just a bit, but pulled away quickly when she heard the lid of the pot on the stove began to clatter. "I almost let the pasta boil over!" She cried, stirring it and diminishing the amount of bubbles in the pot.

"Do you need any help?" I pulled the sleeves on my shirt back and stood next to her.

"Yeah, if it wouldn't be too much trouble could you just get me some plates? I don't know where you keep them."

"No problem."

* * *

After dinner (which was bloody amazing, by the way- that girl sure could cook. Just another plus side) Kaori and I were sitting in my bedroom playing cards when she asked me what our plans were for the next day.

"Well, I know you probably don't want to, but I promised my parents I would de-gnome the garden while I was home this weekend..." I had forgotten about that until earlier that day when they made a comment to me about the gnomes getting into Mum's flowers.

Kai was immediately excited. "I've never de-gnomed a garden before! I really want to try it! Can I help?" I laughed, she yawned. Only she could get so excited about a task that most magical children saw as a chore; an annoyance, at the very least.

"Of course you can help. It would be a thousand times better if you were there, anyways."

"Do you think we could also do some flying while we're here? I don't want to get out of practice for the big game coming up," Kai shook her head. That's right- it was her first game, and at the first game of the season, everybody watches the Keeper.

"Sounds great. We even have a small field with some posts out back, so when we finish de-gnoming we can just-" I stopped when I realized I was talking to nobody; Kai had drifted off to sleep, her head resting against the side of my bed.

I couldn't help but let out a little chuckle. It was just like her to not let me know that she was tired and wanted to go to sleep. Not wanting to wake her, I stood and gently placed my arms under her knees and around her back, placing her own hands on my shoulders. I began to walk towards the guest room across the hall, but froze in my tracks when I heard a faint click and saw a short flash.

Confused, I looked both directions and saw nothing but darkness. I figured it was just my imagination and continued onward, opening the door, pulling back the covers, and lowering Kai gently onto the bed.

After pulling the blankets back to her chin, I stopped for a moment to just look at her. Her ebony hair stood out against the white of the pillow, splayed across it in a messy fashion. Her eyes were closed, so I couldn't see her most beautiful feature, but her lips were slightly parted, taking in even breaths.

In that moment, I really couldn't help myself. I leaned forward and gently pressed my lips to her forehead, letting them stay for longer than I would usually allow for just a friendly peck on the cheek.

"Sleep well, love."

**The rest of her stay will be in the next chapter- I really have to think about what I want to do with it, though.**

**Thank you to ****_Needle In A Haystack, dance4ever95, dadoune, FutureNargleHunter, Marianas Trench, As The Robin Flies, amama123, ParisienneGryffindor, Pearlstar, Guest, R.H.S, .Mars, clouisejohnr, bookangel1624, Mrs. Grint-Cozart-Felton-Horan, . , ChoppedAndScrewed, potterduckx, _and**_** untold mayhem**** for reviewing!**_

_****_** FutureNargleHunter- I wasn't sure if I wanted the class to make a scene or not; I kind of wanted them to just be like 'oh, everybody saw it coming' :)**

** Needle In A Haystack- That's so awesome :) But yes, every Japanese phrase is from Google translate. And I've been considering an outside point of view, so thank you for letting me know that some readers may want it :D**

**I chose to respond to the above reviewers in the chapter, since I figured they might be common questions :)**

**Please please please help me get to 40 reviews!**

Truly Yours,

~_ToTrulyBe_


	9. Shorts and Shortcomings

**I know I said that the next update wouldn't be out for a little bit, but I finished this rather quickly, so I figured why not get it up already? Thank you all so much for reviewing- my goal before posting the next chapter is to get to 50 :) Please check for your name at the bottom, and please do your part and favorite/review/follow this story :D**

_Kai's POV_

Gah, why was it so bright? Did I not close the windows last night? Wait... I thought... I don't remember ever coming back to my room last night...

I jolted up in bed and glanced around frantically. The windows were indeed open, allowing light to stream through the shutters. I tried to think back to the night before; maybe I was just really tired when I walked back to my room from Al's.

That is, unless Al carried me back over here himself. Which wouldn't surprise me- it was just the kind of thing he would do, rather than wake me up. I blushed a bit at the thought, before getting out of bed and changing into my pajamas (a pair of shorts and an off the shoulder long-sleeved shirt), since I hadn't changed out of my clothes from the day before and didn't quite feel like getting for the day. At first I was a bit hesitant to wear my night clothes out of my room, but felt my uneasiness wear away when Lily walked past in her pajamas as well.

I had to tie my hair back- really, it was so bothersome, and it always got in the way at quidditch practice. Nevertheless, I pulled it into a messy high ponytail so it ended about halfway down my back.

When I walked into the kitchen there was a plate of pancakes and bacon from which everybody was welcome to take what they wanted. Al's parents were both cleaning up, Lily was getting her first serving for I had not been far behind her, Rose was still halfway through hers, James was shoveling food into his mouth (shocker), and Al was drinking orange juice.

I cleared my throat as I entered and offered a sound, "Good morning!"

Al proceeded to look up and start choking, while James in turn laughed hysterically at his reaction and slapped him on the back. Rose just wiggled her eyebrows at me, but I didn't have the slightest clue as to why.

Even Al's mum and dad seemed to know what was going on better than I did; they were chuckling to themselves from the sink.

"Is there something that I missed?" I asked, looking down to my bare feet. I couldn't help but wonder whether or not I was the butt of the joke.

James continued laughing and waved his hand at me, as though dismissing my question. "It's nothing, Kai. Albus over here just a got a bit overexcited, isn't that right, Al?"

Al slammed his forehead onto the counter with a thud and ignored all of James's taunts, swatting his hand away.

"Just ignore them, Kai, I'll let you know later."

"Alright..." I helped myself to a fair serving of pancakes and bacon before taking the vacant seat on Al's other side. "Hey, James, would you be up for some flying later?"

"Sure! How about right after we eat?" James stopped eating for just a second to respond to me, but proceeded to reach for the plate of bacon before I even had a chance to respond.

"Well, I promised Al I'd help him de-gnome the garden and that we'd fly afterwards, so maybe after lunch we could-"

Mrs. Potter interjected, "Albus Severus! You don't make your guests help you with your chores!"

"I told her she didn't have to!" Al protested, lifting his head from the counter and instead cradling it in his palms.

"No, really, I've never de-gnomed before! I thought it would be fun to see how to do it." My attempt at playing peacemaker was successful, for both parents seemed satisfied at this answer and Al mouthed 'thank you' to me.

"Did you want to go right after breakfast?" Al inquired, taking another shot at sipping his juice without choking.

"Sure, I should probably change though." I guess that made me changing into my pajamas at all just a bit pointless, but oh well. It wasn't like it would take me long to get dressed again.

When I was finished changing into jeans and a t-shirt, Al was already waiting for me at the back door. I grinned and asked, "So how do we do this?"

Al led me across their large, sprawling yard (seriously, it was huge- it even had a small hill) and showed me some holes in the ground. "They'll usually come out of there. They're pretty stupid, so once you see one, they all start to come out."

"But how do you get rid of them?"

Al laughed. "Let's just focus on having you catch one, for now. Look, there's one right there."

He was right- there was a little, ugly gnome stumbling across the grass and staring at me with its big, beady eyes. I reached down for it and grabbed it by the arm, holding it at an arms length as it made mumbled protests and kicked for freedom.

"Okay, good. So what you do is spin it around and toss it over the fence so it gets dizzy and can't find its way back. But don't wait too long or it might-"

"Ow!" I felt a pinch on my hand and was forced to shake the gnome free from my grip. I looked at my skin to see a slightly swollen patch of skin on the back of my hand, with two indents that looked like they could have been caused by sharp little teeth.

Al grabbed my hand and looked at it, still chuckling. "Bite. This one isn't too bad, it didn't break the skin." He released my hand and let it drop back down to my side, much to my disappointment.

"Al, don't you think that's a bit cruel? I mean, they have every right to live here that we do."

"You really need to start talking to my Aunt Hermione."

"Why do you keep saying that?"

"It's nothing. Look, all the gnomes are coming out now. Ready for another shot?"

I lunged for the closest creature and caught it by one of its legs. I started spinning it around and let it go in the direction of the fence, watching as it catapulted a fair distance away.

"Good job! Come on, let's get this done quick."

From that moment, Al and I were frantically grabbing gnomes and hurling them away from the garden as fast as we could. They were running rampant just about anywhere that you could imagine- I even saw Al nearly run into a tree in pursuit of one.

A good half hour later, we were both stalled, not seeing any more for just a moment.

"You think we got them all?" I breathed, taking a quick glance around me.

"I think so..."

Suddenly, there were small footsteps against grass and a squealing. I reacted immediately by looking up at Al and challenging him silently with a race.

"You're on," was the only thing he had to say before we both took off running towards it, uphill no less. At the top of the hill we were both within grabbing distance of it, but as I bent down to catch it, Al's foot caught over my leg and we both began rolling down the other side of the hill.

For the moments that we were rolling, I could barely make sense of what was around me, but when we crashed to a hault at the end of the slope, I got the chance to catch my breath and noticed Al's arm around my waist, my back pressed into the grass, and his body slightly the left of my own.

It was like time was frozen for that second. We were both panting for breath- after all, we had been sprinting against one another. Some of my hair had fallen out of its ponytail and lay around my face, while Al's hair was just as perfectly messy as it always was. I couldn't help but stare into his eyes and notice him looking back at me, stealing quick glances at his lips every few seconds.

Who knows how long we stayed like that? It felt like forever, and I was absolutely fine with that.

I noticed Al begin to lean just a bit closer to me, and I tilted my head and lifted it slightly in hopes of meeting him halfway (if that really was what was happening- Merlin, please let it be.) Our faces were just centimeters away from one another and I was letting my eyes drift shut just when I felt a tug on my hair.

Having been so wrapped up in the moment, I gasped and jumped a bit at the sudden feeling, looking in the direction that my hair was being pulled to see the gnome squealing and yanking on my locks.

I was too disappointed to even pursue the gnome one bit- little git had just ruined my one chance at finally showing Al how I felt. I looked back to my best friend and became all too aware of him removing his arm from its place around my waist, standing up, brushing himself off, and offering a hand down to me.

"I think lunch is ready now."

His sentence was hardly more than a murmur, and without warning Al began to walk back to the house without me.

* * *

_Al's POV_

I threw open the back door and stormed into the house, fuming. My parents looked up at me in surprise when I slammed the door behind me, causing a loud crashing noise to echo throughout the house.

My dad started with, "Al, are you okay?"

"I don't want to talk about it." I continued forward in pursuit of the hallway which would take me to the stairs.

"I'm just about to finish with lunch-"

"Not hungry, Mum!"

I did feel a bit bad for shouting at her- after all, she knew nothing of my frustration and figured food would make me feel better like it usually did. I ignored this, though, keeping true to my course to my bedroom.

"You still up for a round of Quidditch after-"

I didn't hear the rest of what James was trying to say to me, for I had reached my destination and cut him off by kicking my door shut. I could barely hear him mutter 'shit' from the outside, but I really couldn't care less. I kicked off my shoes and lay face down on my bed, mulling over what had just happened.

I had been so close! Just a second more and it would have happened- I could have done something that I've only ever dreamed of before.

I wasn't mad at Kai- Merlin, no- I was just so frustrated that throughout this one weekend I had been given two shots and both of them had been interrupted and completely messed up. First Fred (though I wasn't blaming him) and now that bloody little gnome. I swear fate just has it out for me.

And what was she trying to do this morning, give me a stroke? What the hell was she thinking wearing shorts like that? I'd hardly ever seen her in anything besides her school uniform and practice clothes, and since it is fall, whenever we went outside she was usually fairly covered up.

I mean, _damn_. She was freaking _fit_.

Yeah, yeah, more teenage boy ramblings. Sue me.

I remembered that we would be catching a train back to Hogwarts tomorrow morning and groaned- I loved home weekends because they were three days long, but it was such a pain to have to leave again.

There was a knock at my door, and I heard a female voice from the other side call my name.

Recognizing it, I called back, "Come in."

She pushed open the door and came to sit at the foot of my bed.

"What's wrong, Al?" Lily asked, placing a comforting hand on my back. "Mum, Dad, and James said you were upset."

"Did they really?"

"Actually, James said somebody shoved a pole up your arse," she clarified with a straight face.

Lily and I didn't usually talk all too much while we were at school- she was actually quite popular and usually had some sort of obligation to her friends, and when we ate meals as a family we didn't always get the chance to speak. Regardless of this though, we actually were quite close and bonded a lot over holidays.

"It's nothing, Lily. You don't need to worry about it."

"It's about Kai, isn't it?"

My head shot out of my arms to look at my little sister. "How do you know about that?"

"Please, Albus. Don't think that you're good at hiding anything from me."

That was another thing about Lily- she was really good at reading people, especially me. Perhaps that was the reason she had so many good friends.

I sighed. "I've tried to do something about it all weekend, but it seems like every time I try, something manages to get in the way and stop me."

She thought on this for a second, before beginning. "Okay..." Lily dragged this word out particularly and continued, "I have a proposal for you, but you might not like it."

"Try me."

"I suggest you just wait things out with Kaori a bit longer. I mean, you two haven't actually known each other for an exceptionally long time. Besides, if you wait a bit things might calm down enough for you to pick the perfect time to get her." Lily removed her hand from my back and stood, shifting the weight on the bed. "I'm going to go eat- are you coming?"

I smiled. "Yeah."

**I just wanted to bring Lily in at the end there- I realized she hadn't been in the story much at all.**

**So that is essentially the end of the visit to the Potters' house! Pretty please review and get to 50 before the next update!**

**I'll be really busy the next few days, so the next chapter probably won't be up until Friday at the earliest, but I'll do my best!**

**Thanks to ****_Lucy Shaw, CurLy QueEn SwiRl, MRDally, Needle In A Haystack, Marianas Trench, FutureNargleHunter, amama123, As the Robin Flies, dance4ever95, dadoune, ParisienneGryffindor, Pearlstar, Guest, R.H.S, .Mars, clouisjohnr, bookangels1624, Mrs. Grint-Cozart-Felton-Horan, . , ChoppedAndScrewed, potterduckx, _and _untold mayhem _for reviewing!**

****Truly Yours,  
~_ToTrulyBe_


	10. Disruptions and Decisions

Al's POV

After returning to Hogwarts on Monday afternoon, I retreated to the library in order to work on the homework that I had, of course, neglected to do while I was at home. Did the professors honestly expect us to be able to do schoolwork while we were at our own houses with our families? It really was mind-boggling.

Not to mention that I was still sort of avoiding Kaori. Until I really sorted out my feelings and my next approach to staying friends for the meanwhile, I didn't want to be around her and do anything stupid.

But seriously, I better focus on this potions homework.

_You take a bezoar, okay, and add it to... what the bloody hell is that?_

"It's the potion we learned to make last week. Maybe you'd have noticed if you were paying just a speck of attention."

I practically jumped out of my chair when I heard Rose's voice behind me. I hadn't realized I was speaking out loud, much less that anybody was around me to hear it.

"What do you want, Rosie?" I huffed, regaining my composure and purposely throwing in her nickname just to piss her off a bit. I had hardly spoken to Rose all weekend, since things were a bit awkward after she had pulled me into the backyard and threatened to kill me. At that moment I legitimately did fear for my life.

"I just thought you oughta know that Kai's really upset that you've been ignoring her since Sunday afternoon. She's been crying and everything because she thinks you're mad at her." Rose crossed her arms over her chest and flicked her red hair over her shoulder, glaring down at me as though she were a headmaster talking to a misbehaving student.

Kai thought I was mad at her? She was crying? I made her _cry_?

"Where is she?"

"Common room."

I slowly shut the book I had been looking through, placed it back on the shelf, and left wordlessly, leaving my cousin behind.

* * *

When I got to the common room, I saw Kai lying across an armchair, a book and her glasses in her lap while she talked to this guy I had only seen in passing, I think his name was Aaron?

They both looked up when I walked in, and the guy said something to her before waving and making his way up to the male dorms. I walked over to where Kai was sitting and sat on the thick arm of the chair.

Looking at her, I noticed that there was the last signs of a smile across her lips and cheeks, and as she placed her glasses back on her nose, I looked at her eyes and saw no signs of irritation or redness. No dried tear tracks on her cheeks, absolutely nothing to show that she had been upset, much less crying.

"You alright, Kai?"

She just gave me a sideways smile. "Does it look like something is wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just that..." I thought about Rose and things she had said to me in the past and realized...

She must have been lying... I don't know if she knew that Kai was talking to that other guy or if she just wanted us to talk, but it had worked.

"Nevermind. I just... I thought you were upset."

"What about? The fact that you've been avoiding me like the plague for the past day? Don't worry about it, Al, I think I'll be able to make it through." The last bit she said with a sort of sarcastic tone, making me bite my lip in concern. I'd never heard her speak like that before.

"Who was that guy?" I couldn't hold back my curiosity- if he was going to attempt anything on Kai I had to be on full alert.

"That's Austin. He's a seventh year, and he was just asking about what I was reading and joking around a bit. He was nice."

I sighed, though in a fashion that was barely noticeable. Kai wouldn't know if somebody were hitting on her if it smacked her in the face, or unless they came right out and said it.

"Kai, I think he might have been trying to flirt with you..."

I could see her face flush and knew immediately that she hadn't been aware of this guy's true intentions. But still, she's going to have to notice these things if she ever wants to survive without me around to let her know what's going on.

Then again, we hopefully won't ever really be apart. So that shouldn't be too much of a problem in the long run.

"What do you care, Al?" Kaori's question hardly came out as more than a whisper as she put down her book in a more permanent fashion and turned to a sitting position so as to be in a better posture to speak to me, though her eyes were cast away from mine.

"What do you mean, 'what do I care?' You're my best friend. I only want the best for you- I don't ever want a guy to hurt you."

"Including yourself?"

Kai flashed her blue eyes up to meet my green ones for a split second before she gathered all of her things up and took off for the girls' dormitory.

* * *

"You lied to me, you know."

I was sitting with Rose that night in the common room, next to the fireplace. Most everybody else had gone up to bed, and as far as I knew, Kai had only come down to eat dinner and then had immediately returned to her room.

"About?"

"Kai being upset."

Rose snorted. "That's not a lie, you idiot."

"She wasn't crying or anything."

"You know she hardly ever cries. Doesn't mean she's not upset."

I brought my knees to my chest and rested my forehead on top of them. "There was this guy flirting with her, Rose. He was taller than me, had that 'beach' hair or whatever it is that girls like, he's a seventh year... She can't be too upset if she's letting a guy flirt with her like that."

"You know she wouldn't know the difference between flirting and friendly conversation."

I gave pause for a second before continuing. "I told her I didn't ever want any guy to hurt her, and she asked if I meant myself as well. What do you think that meant?"

"Idiot," Rose repeated. "You're hurting her by ignoring her. And-"

"And?"

"It's nothing." Rose stood and brushed some stray cinders off of clothes from being too close to the fire. "I'm going to head up; I suggest you do the same."

* * *

Rose's POV

When I got back up to my dorm, I noticed that Kai was sitting on her bed, her light still on. I had assumed she had gone to sleep in preparation for the next day of classes, but she had actually decided to stay up late.

"Oh, hey, I didn't know you were still up!" I began to change into my pajamas, while Kaori continued reading her book. I heard it thump closed and noticed that she made an audible sigh as she placed it down on the nightstand beside her bed.

"Why so glum?" She was clearly upset about something- her eyes gave it away.

Kai breathed a slow and even breath before practically whispering, "I think I need to get over Al."

I felt my jaw practically hit the floor- thankfully I had just turned away from her in order to put my clothes in my laundry basket. Kai had indeed confided in me that she had a crush on Al, but aside from that she really didn't like to speak about it. I regained my composure and turned back to my roommate.

"What makes you say that?"

She tugged on her plaited hair and murmured, louder this time, "This weekend we had a... moment, I suppose you could say, and afterwards he seemed pretty upset. He barely spoke to me at all afterwards and he's been ignoring me, and I just don't know if I can handle it anymore."

"You know he's not really mad at you-"

"I know. It's just, I don't know if I can stand knowing that he'll never return my feelings and that the thought of it makes me sick- I don't want to be one of those girls who spends their entire life pining for their best friend and winds up alone. I can't. I have to get over him." As if finalizing her decision, Kai nodded her head, turned out her light and offered a sound "good night" to me.

Damn it, Al; you really screwed up this time...

**Hey guys, I'm so so sorry it took me this long to get this up and that its so short, but as I was doing some final revision I accidentally deleted the file and wasn't able to recover it :'( I'll do reviewer shout out next chapter, but please don't stop with your amazing feedback! I love all of you so much for supporting this piece! Please help me get to 60 reviews before the next chapter. And oh my goodness, this story has hit double digit chapters, making it potentially the longest piece I have ever written.**

Truly yours,  
_~ToTrulyBe_


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